The Sabre's Dragon
by iamzoy
Summary: Set in-between the Avatar and Alvarez arcs. After Lucy takes up a relationship with Sting, Natsu finds that the woman he loves is no longer available to him. However another Celestial Spirit mage may just catch his eye.
1. A Broken Heart

**Just so everyone is aware this will contain spoilers for arcs that are not yet in the anime, if you have not read the manga do not read this story! Don't want to spoil anyone's fun. Anyway this is set just after the Avatar arc, as far as my plans go the Alavarez Empire arc will still happen as well although there will be a longer gap between the two arcs. Anyway please enjoy the story,**

 **I also don't own Fairy Tail, no massively successful pieces of work for me!**

 **A Broken Heart**

Looking up from his spot at the bar, Natsu saw a sight that made his heart clench in his chest. Lucy was in the hands of another man. Sting was currently laughing boisterously while he pulled the Celestial wizard closer, refusing to let her stay away from him.

After the guild disbanded, the time away from her family had taken its toll on the blonde, her support scattered to the four corners of Fiore. She had been left alone, alone to sink into her loneliness. However she was saved by one man. Sting.

She had met him on the job while working for the Sorcerer Magazine. Herself and Jason were doing an issue based on the Sabretooth guild, after all the work had been done she sat with Yukino and had a drink to catch up with her fellow Celestial mage. It was then the master of the Sabres had joined them.

To her surprise she found that she quite enjoyed the company of the Dragon-Slayer immensely. It appeared that after the events of the Grand Magic Games, Sting had changed for the better. It turned out that Natsu influenced him enough to shed most of his ego and to strive to become a better person. This is intrigued Lucy to no end.

And so she began spending time with the Light Dragon-Slayer. Every visit brought the two closer together and they began to bask in each others presence, letting their feelings grow naturally. Eventually after a couple of months they began going on dates, discovering that their love for each other ran deep. They became a couple not long after.

Although Natsu wished the couple well, it was not in his nature to hate his friends, every time he saw them; it cut him deep in his heart. Although he originally left on his journey to train, he also took the time to realise his feelings and mourn. However the extra time he needed ended up being a curse rather than a blessing. He lost the one heart he was determined to win. All he could do was watch as the woman he loved lived her life with another man.

What really hit hard was that Natsu could not deny Sting was exactly what Lucy needed. He was similar to the Fire Dragon-Slayer but he was a bit more relaxed in his general approach to things. While Natsu was a hot-head, Sting would be a bit more reserved, keeping a tighter leash on his emotions. After the announcement of their coupling, the guild figured that Natsu's flames of emotion were too much for the Celestial Spirit Mage at times. These revelations did nothing to quell the turmoil inside of the Fire Dragon-Slayer.

They also seemed to affect his magic. His fires had dulled ever since the public declaration of Sting and Lucy. His missions with Team Natsu became strained as he slowly transformed into a liability. He had eventually stopped going, worrying all of his friends in the process. He hardly joined in the guild brawls anymore, his weakened state meaning he could risk some serious injuries if he fought.

Unfortunately, the fact that he has behaving in a manner that definitely was not like him caught the attention of the entire guild. They had all deduced what was wrong with the Dragon-Slayer however they could only attempt to cheer him up. There was not much anyone could do for him in that situation.

All of this, left Natsu in his current state, his head firmly planted on the bar, unmoving. He had to be honest with himself, the news had devastated him. He had never taken any wound in a fight that had hurt him as much as the news that the woman he loved did not love him back. Her heart was elsewhere and he was left alone.

Mira approached Natsu silently, worry tainting her beautiful face. Her concern for the Dragon-Slayer had increased daily in the past few weeks, his gloominess turned out to be infectious. People like Natsu were meant to burn brightly, giving light to everyone's lives, yet at the moment he was a darkened husk of his former personality and other people were missing his presence. Coughing to alert Natsu of her presence, the she-devil raised her sweet voice to address her old friend.

"Natsu are you okay? You haven't been yourself recently." Although she was stating the obvious, even the most unobservant members of the guild had noticed the change. All that was left was for Natsu to come clean and confide in them. However the entire guild knew how stubborn that the son of Igneel could be and would probably never admit it. The Fire Dragon-Slayer lifted his heat at the gentle voice and gave its owner a fanged smile. Unfortunately Mira could see through his attempt, knowing that his smile was not genuine.

"Oh hey Mira, I'm fine honestly! No need to worry about me!" His tone lacked his usual bravado. If she was not mistaken, Mira could have sworn she heard an insecure undertone to his reply. This only worried her more, Natsu maybe a lot of different things but insecure was not one of them. Before she could push the topic, Gray ran up behind the Dragon-Slayer and yelled out his usual challenge.

"Oi Flame-Brain! Fight me!" Ripping off his shirt and tossing it aside (coincidentally, into the arms of a fawning Juvia) Gray flexed his muscles letting a casual smirk take over his face. He conveniently ignored Mira's death glare as he prepared to face his childhood rival.

"Not today thanks Gray, think I'll head home instead. You coming Happy?" The blue Exceed perked up when his best friend called for him.

"Aye sir!" The feline flew over to his adoptive father and the pair left the guild, leaving behind a stunned Fairy Tail. With a look of confusion, Gray approached a gaping Mira and asked the question that everyone was thinking.

"What just happened?" Mira could only shrug her shoulders in a startled response as she could not find the words to express her confusion. Although he had not joined in any of the guild brawls recently, he never missed the chance to have a fist-fight with Gray. Not just that but he was polite to his rival, not even degrading him with one of his insults. That may have been a first in Fairy Tail history. As the two tried to figure out where their use of vocabulary went, Erza approached the two and joined in the conversation.

"Although I am pleased he didn't fight," She paused to give Gray his second death stare of the day, terrifying the poor Ice-mage even further into speechlessness. "I'm rather worried about Natsu. He hasn't been himself recently. Not to mention his absence from Team Natsu, missions aren't the same without him!"

Gray snorted at the last part of Erza's statement and received a gauntlet-clad fist in response. As Mira slid a plate of strawberry cake to the currently fuming red-head to calm her down, she finally broke her silence.

"I know Erza, it's such a shame to see him so down, maybe someone should go talk to him." All three turned their heads to look to his best friend, however Lucy was preoccupied with Sting, laughing merrily at a joke he just said, grasping his arm to her and generally ignoring the world around her.

"Well we can't ask Lucy for obvious reasons and he sure as hell won't listen to me. Looks like it'll have to be you Erza." Gray pointed out. However Mira pointed out a potential flaw with the Ice-Make mage's idea.

"If you go Erza, you'll have to stay calm and patiently try and make him talk to you. Without hurting him." This comment made Erza look down bashfully while playing with the remains of her cake, causing both Mira and Gray to sweatdrop. However despite the distractions, they still needed someone to go and talk to Natsu, and none of them could come up with any fresh ideas.

"Erm, if you don't mind…I can go and talk to Natsu-san." All three jumped at the intrusion into their conversation. They quickly turned to the owner of the timid voice to be met with the youngest member of Team Natsu, Wendy Marvell.

Mira gave the young Dragon-Slayer a sweet, comforting smile, causing Wendy to smile back, slipping into a more comfortable feeling making her feel at ease. She had been nervous about offering to help, but they seemed to be actually considering her idea. This in turn helped to give her more confidence.

"I think that's a wonderful idea Wendy! He maybe more likely to open up to a fellow Dragon-Slayer after all!" Mira said with her winning smile still adorning her face, glad that possibly, the plan to help Natsu may continue after all.

"The idea has merit certainly, you have after all, matured a lot Wendy" Erza agreed with her seldom seen soft smile. The compliment caused Wendy's face to turn scarlet in an instant. The praise from one of her idols never failed to embarrass her.

"Plus Flame-brain would never even think of hurting Wendy's feelings, so we don't have to worry about him getting annoyed at her." Gray concluded for the three. It was Erza who had the last say.

"We have our plan then. Do your best, Wendy!" The Sky Maiden gave all three a firm nod before running off to prepare. As they watched her go, all three smiled at her look of determination. It was Mira who voiced the thought they were all thinking.

"You really are growing up in front of our eyes Wendy."

The Sky Dragon-Slayer quickly sprinted up to Carla. She had been planning how to address Natsu in a way that was simple for him to understand and not freak out about discussing how he was feeling. Although she was not one hundred percent sure how to go about this, she knew one thing for certain. Her Exceed would not be there.

Not only would Happy start to misbehave at the mere sight of his not so secret crush, but Carla could potentially say something that would infuriate the Fire Dragon-Slayer and make the entire situation worse. Although she had gotten a lot better with the Fairy Tail guild, she still let her snobby attitude out at times. It was for these reasons Carla would be staying in Fairy Hills tonight.

"Carla, can you do me a favour please? Can you make your own way back home tonight please?" Keeping her tone polite was always a good way to get on the Exceed's good side. However the pure white cat sensed something was being kept from her. With a look of suspicion, Carla inquired,

"Why would I do that child? What are you up to?" Knowing her cat would never agree to letting her go without the truth, the young Dragon-Slayer come clean.

"I'm going to visit Natsu-san to try and figure out what's wrong with him." Her confidence had taken a slight hit as she embarrassedly admitted what she was up to. She could not keep the blush off her face. Sniffing as this new information, Carla's response came almost instantly.

"Why do you have to talk with that brute!? They cab easily send someone else." A stray thought crossed Wendy's mind telling her that talking with Natsu would be easier than getting Carla to agree to letting her go anywhere without her.

"Please Carla it's only me that can do it. Erza-san is too scary, Gray-san would just argue with him and Lucy-san, well…" They both looked over at Lucy to see her leaving with Sting in tow, both still lost in each others company. With great reluctance Carla turned back to Wendy frowning, closing her eyes as if what she was about to say was bringing her great pain.

"Fine child, I suppose those are good points, go and talk with him if you must." With her widest smile, Wendy thanked her partner causing the Exceed to at last smile for the first time in the conversation. With a wave at the rest of Team Natsu and Mira, The Sky Dragon-Slayer skipped out of the guild and made her way towards Natsu's home.

* * *

Despite the fact her senses were not as keen as Natsu's or even Gajeel's, Wendy's were still at a reasonable level. With the enhanced sense of smell, the young Dragon-Slayer had tracked down her teammate to his house and was currently stood on his doorstep, mustering her courage by watching the sun start to set. The dipping star was painting the sky paint, a shade that reminded Wendy of Natsu's own hair.

This gave the young slayer some comfort, as she turned again to face the door. With her courage now restored, she quickly knocked on the front door before taking a step back and awaiting a response. It only took a minute for the door to swing open and she came face-to-face with a currently hovering Happy.

"Wendy? What are you doing here?" The cute, confused expression on the Exceed's face would have usually caused her to chuckle, however she was far too focused on her current objective to notice.

"I just came to talk to Natsu-san, is he at home?" As usual, the youngest Dragon-Slayer was polite in her questioning however, Happy did not seem to be listening. Instead a look of fevered concern had crossed his face as he quickly began his own interrogation.

"Yeah he is, wait! Wendy's where's Carla?" Wendy inwardly laughed at the cats first thought.

"She's at home Happy-san, at Fairy Hills."

"And she's on her own?"

"Yes Happy-san."

"Max Speed!" The shout startled Wendy but what shocked her more, was the blue blur shooting off in the direction of Fairy Hills while screaming to the now darkened sky,

"Don't worry Carla, I'm coming! You won't be lonely ever again!"

Raising a hand to her mouth, Wendy let out a series of giggles before walking into Natsu's house, through the left open front door. Patiently pushing away the image of a horror-stricken Carla fending off the affections of a love-struck Happy, Wendy closed the door behind her and took a glance around the older Dragon-Slayers house.

To her surprise it seemed the pair had actually cleaned their humble abode. Normally she would have guessed that Lucy had cleaned for him, however current events promptly disregarded that theory. She was so immersed in her thoughts, even with her enhanced senses, Wendy failed to notice Natsu walk into the room.

"Oh! Yo Wendy! What're you doing here?" His voice caused Wendy to flail her arms around in surprise, the shock possibly taking off a few years of her life. As she took a moment to compose herself, Wendy quickly examined Natsu's face.

To anyone else the grin on his face would have been genuine, but not to Wendy. She saw that his grin was just a bit wider than normal, that it just came short of reaching his eyes. Eyes that usually sparkled with mischief and life, now held a hidden pain. One that would eat him inside out if he did not address the issue.

"Natsu-san! Don't scare me like that." Deciding it was too early to address directly what she came here to talk about, she decided a gentle chastise would be the ice-breaker. It seemed to do the trick as Natsu scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Heh, sorry about that. But you didn't answer the question."

"I…I just came to talk Natsu-san." Despite the fact she did not feel shy around the older Dragon-Slayer, she could not help but stutter as she began to think about the task at hand and just how difficult her little mission may prove to be.

"Don't be nervous Wendy. I always have time for you!" This time the accompanying smile was radiant and oozed affection. This however proved to not be as helpful as imagined. The sincerity behind Natsu's words caused the Sky Dragon-Slayer to start to stutter in embarrassment instead as her face turned a marvellous shade of red.

"Th…Thank y...you Natsu-san." It may have been a struggle to say, but she hoped that she get across just how much that meant to her. That having Fairy Tail as a family still warmed her heart to that very same day. Quickly returning her undivided attention to the fire Dragon-Slayer, she noticed that he had moved to his sofa and was beginning to get comfortable.

Noticing that Wendy was silently watching, unmoving, Natsu gestured for her to join him in getting comfortable. Not needing anymore prompting, the young Dragon-Slayer quickly seated herself next to Natsu, turning to face him while wondering how it was best to bring up the 'Lucy Conundrum'.

However the son of Igneel interrupted her thoughts with an unexpected question.

"Do you want something to eat or drink?" He may not always remember his manners, but he never forgot how to be a great host. Erza had visited once and when there was no offer of refreshment from Natsu, she had begun 'teaching' the unfortunate Dragon-Slayer for the rest of the day on how to treat his guests. Needless to say he picked it up rather quickly, although Erza had never been invited back again.

I'm fine Natsu-san, I ate at the guild." Natsu nodded at Wendy's explanation, relieved that he did not have to stand up and fetch food from his kitchen. Before his mind could wonder too far into the realms of everything food, the Fire Dragon-Slayer reminded himself that his guest had come for a reason.

"Well, what do you want to talk about Wendy?" The Sky Dragon-Slayer seemed to actively cringe at this question. Although Natsu's tone had been gentle with the slightest hint of intrigue, Wendy still felt like she was at the start of a gruelling interrogation. Simply put, she was not ready for this.

Deciding that the best course of action was to just be honest with Natsu, The Sky Maiden jumped straight into the deep end.

"Natsu san, are you okay? Is Lucy-san being with Sting-san upsetting you?" Closing her eyes Wendy did not want to see her fellow slayers reaction in case she found anger there. Out of everyone she knew, Natsu was one of the few she would not be able to cope with them hating her. He meant way too much to her and she never wanted his malice aimed at her.

Mustering up her courage, the youngest Dragon-Slayer opened her eyes and to her horror she found something a lot worse than anger. She found a tensed up Natsu with only one emotion on his face. Pain. The type that would eat a person's soul if left unchecked in its ravenous quest to destroy everything it touched. The type that would tear, stab and rip into your heart without mercy or remorse making every moment agony, before stripping you of emotion and leaving you an unfeeling husk. It was the type of pain that taunted you night and day, never relenting until its sinister voice was all you could hear, constantly whispering, making you scream in a crazed delirium just for a moment of respite.

Wendy did not know when the tears started to flow. She did not feel them cascading down her face as she felt just a sliver of the pain that Natsu felt. What she did feel was her caring side raring its head and forcing her to comfort her friend. As a strangled sob escaped her, the young Dragon-Slayer flung herself at one of her role models, wrapping her small arms around him.

"Oh Natsu-san!"

The fire Dragon-Slayer did not hesitate, he wrapped his arms around Wendy and pulled her into a tight embrace. It hit him suddenly that despite the fact it was he who was hurting, he was comforting the young Sky Madien. Natsu could not contain the chuckle that escaped his lips when it finally became clear to him. This alerted the sobbing girl in his arms, and she looked up in surprise to see what was happening.

"Natsu-san?" Her adorable, confused face only making the fire mage to chuckle more.

"Don't worry Wendy, it's just funny that I'm comforting you right now." Although the young teenager was embarrassed, she was happy to at least hear Natsu's laugh again; especially when he had the warm smile that accompanied it. Wiggling out of their comforting hug, the Sky Maiden spoke again.

"S…Sorry Natsu-san, but you never actually answered my question." The dark look from before quickly made a reappearance, causing Wendy to flinch at the sight. It was a challenge for the young Dragon-Slayer to see someone close to her go through such pain. She was not used to it. However one positive could be taken, Natsu's influence had a positive impact on Wendy. She was more protective of those she loved.

"It… It hurts a lot Wendy. I'm not good with words or feelings but I feel like my heart has been ripped out. Not even Igneel leaving was as painful as knowing that Lucy doesn't love the way I love her. I know I'm not smart but I thought I worked out her feelings. Turns out I was wrong. It feels like there's something wrong with me, something that makes me feel so alone."

Everyone who knew Natsu on a personal level, knew about his hear of abandonment and loneliness. Although he was surrounded by supportive friends, it did not stop the familiar dark tendrils of doubt seeping into his mind. Despite the fact he was not too clear about love, he knew all about fear. Not only was Natsu heartbroken, he was deathly afraid.

Even though he could not place exactly what to be afraid of, his sub-conscience feared having to face the world alone. His heartbreak was almost gleefully bringing back his childhood fears.

"Natsu-san?" The Fire Dragon-Slayer looked down to find that Wendy had once again wrapped her arms around his chest in an effort to comfort him with a hug, and once again Natsu happily accepted the kind gesture with no complaint. He may not say it out loud, but it was really giving him comfort to have someone here looking out for him.

"I know what you must be thinking Natsu-san, I felt the same after Fairy Tail split. It was like loosing Grandeeney all over again. I had lost my family again." Natsu flinched as he remembered the left unsaid guild Caitshelter and how that must still hurt the bluenette in his arms. He ideally wondered why it was Dragon-Slayers that got most of the difficult challenges in life, however Wendy's voice soon brought him out of his thoughts.

"Luckily I had Lamia Scale to take me in and I had Chelia, but I still felt like Fairy Tail had abandoned me." Natsu flinched again at that. So many had lost their dragons and he did not stop in his grieving of Igneel to check on his fellow slayers. Guiltily he turned to say something to Wendy only to see her glaring at him with narrowed eyes.

"Stop it right now Natsu-san! You didn't abandon me, so stop feeling guilty! You were grieving too and needed the time; you even gave a time for when you'd be back anyway." Although her stern tone originally surprised Natsu, he could not help but smile at her determination for him to not place blame on himself for her fears. When the bluenette was sure he had stopped on his self-detrimental train of thought, she carried on.

"Although I loved my time at Lamia Scale, it still wasn't Fairy Tail and I always had a small spot in me that hurt. Then one day something amazing happened. My big brother came back to find me."

This caused one reaction for the both of them. They exploded crimson in embarrassment. They were both pleased with Wendy's words. The Sky Maiden was happy she was finally able to tell Natsu that she saw him as a blood relative, while the Fire Dragon-Slayer loved the fact that someone loved him so much as to consider him an actual family member. It definitely helped that he had always viewed Wendy as the perfect little sister. Before the atmosphere could get awkward, the Sky Maiden continued.

"It wasn't just the fact you came for me, I was one of the first you came to find. It meant so much to me that you came. I know I've never said, but to me, it showed that no matter how long you were away for, you'd always try and find me again afterwards. I know that I didn't want to leave Chelia and Lamia after all they did for me. I had to take the risk, even if I was afraid that we'd all split again. Don't you see Natsu-san? You helped give me the strength to get over my own pains and fears."

Natsu was stunned; he never knew his actions had such consequences. He could not deny the happiness he felt from the thought however. He felt warm; something he had not felt since the news of Lucy and Sting's coupling had been announced. Once again however, it appeared that the Sky Dragon-Slayer was going to speak.

"Please let us help you Natsu-san. The whole guild is worried, Erza-san, Mira-san and even Gray-san want you to get better. We love you Natsu, you're our family! We'll do anything for you. You only need to ask!"

Even though Wendy's speech had not mended his shattered heart, he felt some emotions he was beginning to think he would never have again. Hope, happiness and contentment. Pulling the Sky Dragon-Slayer closer so that her head was resting on his chest, Natsu gave her a grateful squeeze as he felt magic react to the love and acceptance he was being shown.

Wendy was more than content to be held closely by her big brother figure, however her happiness turned into joy when she felt the first-stirrings of his magic returning, she had not felt it at all recently and she could only bask in the safe, protected feeling it always gave her.

However with Natsu's magic returned, so did the ever-present warmth that came with it. As his magic began raising the temperature, Wendy began to gradually feel increasingly tired. It had been a brief, but emotional discussion for both parties and she felt drained because of it. The weight of her eye lids soon became and unbearable burden and she fought to keep her eyes open. However it became quickly apparent, this was a fight she was not going to win.

"I'm sorry Natsu-san but I can't keep my eyes open." Her eyes were closing even as she was speaking this sentence; sleep was slowly creeping forward to steal her away. However Natsu was not faring any better. He was truthfully tired when he arrived home, now after such an emotional heart-to-heart, he was pretty much dead on his feet.

"Don't worry Wendy, go to sleep. After all, what sought of big brother would I be if I didn't look after my little sister!"

The smile on Wendy's face was positively angelic. Natsu was sure she could have actually been the real deal with the amount of effort she had put forth for him today. With the last of his energy he laid them both down on his to increase the comfort as they slept. As he closed his eyes, a small figure snuggled into his side and a sleepy voice sounded out one final time.

"Goodnight Natsu-nii. You'll never be alone if I'm here."

"Goodnight Wendy."

His heart may have still been broken, but his fire was back. Natsu said one last thing before slipping into the most comforting sleep he had in a long time.

"I'm fired up!"

* * *

 **God writing 'san' all the time got tiring quickly, might need to relax Wendy's character a bit :'), Hope it was all done right and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!**


	2. The Rematch

**Well I'm back with a new chapter, wrote and typed as quickly as I could so I hope you enjoy it! Responses to review and stuff are at the bottom!**

 **The Rematch**

Erza strolled down the path leading to Natsu's house with anxiety eating away at her. She had no idea if Wendy was going to have succeeded in her mission or not. It was not because of any doubt she had with the young girl, but more so with Natsu's tendencies to hide how he was feeling to spare his guild mates the trouble of helping him.

This infuriated the scarlet-haired warrior as she owed a lot to the Fire Dragon Slayer. He had done things for her that no one else would ever be willing, or able, to do. It hurt her to see one of her best friends in pain, especially when it was clear he would not let her help. It was his damn pride. Although it made her feel respected, the fact that Natsu admired her as a person that he should one day surpass, made him hide his 'weakness' from her.

Despite the fact it would not help the situation, Erza wanted to punch her pink-haired friend repeatedly in the face to drive home the point that she was there if he needed her to be. After all, Natsu learned best through action rather than words.

Deciding not to take her violent approach this time, Erza quickened her steps as the front door came into view. Not stopping to knock, the requip mage opened Natsu's door and walked into his house without guilt. She was about to call out for him when something on the sofa caught her eye.

There she saw Wendy and Natsu sleeping together. Wendy was snuggling into the Fire Dragon Slayer's side, her head resting comfortably against his chest and her hand over his heart, whereas Natsu had his arms around wrapped around the Sky Maiden's shoulders protectively. It was an adorable sight.

Unfortunately Erza misunderstood the situation. Re-quipping a sword into her hand, she stealthily made her way over to the dozing slayers. Raising her rather dangerous and deadly weapon above her head, the scarlet-haired beauty was about to take her revenge on Natsu for using Wendy, when the said girl stirred in her sleep, saying a handful of words.

"Never alone, Natsu-nii."

Erza watched on as Natsu reacted, despite being in deep sleep. He seemed to tighten his hold on the sky Dragon Slayer, who immediately responded by snuggling even closer, putting a warm smile onto the Fire Dragon Slayer's face. Erza could feel the temperature rise slightly at the affection being showed, recognising the feel of it, she quickly put two and two together, realising that Natsu was regaining control of his magic.

Sending her sword back to her dimension, the S-class mage looked at both the sleeping mages with a gentle fondness she rarely showed. Finding that she was unable to resist, Erza reached down and ruffled each of her still slumbering friends hair affectionately. Again both Dragon Slayers reacted, Wendy seemed pleased as her small smile grew ever so slightly. Natsu however, frowned and seemed to mumble something incoherent under his breath.

Smothering a laugh at her pink-haired friends pouting, Erza quickly retreated from the house and headed towards the guild. Thinking that things were finally on the up, the warrior could not stop the big grin that formed on her face as she made her way towards Fairy Tail.

* * *

It did not take long for Mira to call Erza over; in fact she had just walked in when the barmaid had called out to her. Walking to the bar the warrior was greeted to strawberry cake and a rather anxious barmaid.

"Have you got any news on Natsu and Wendy?" It was a testament to Mira's concern that she did not even have her usual polite greeting for her friend. Unfortunately it appeared that the mighty Titania was too engrossed in the cake to answer straight away, this luckily, gave Gray enough time to join the conversation while two certain Exceeds also flew over to listen in on the news. Finally finishing her slice, Erza looked up and jumped slightly at the audience she now had. Taking a second to recompose, she quickly began to structure her answer, particularly because the faces were beginning to turn impatient.

"There is Mira. I personally went to see Natsu before coming to the guild. He and Wendy were sleeping together on the sofa." While Mira began to coo at the image Erza's words created, a certain white Exceed had a completely different reaction.

"They were what!?" A now furious Carla screamed, causing all around to wince at the high volume of her distress.

"She lllllikes him!" Happy said snickering, however that soon stopped as Carla sprouted her wings, chasing the now unfortunate Exceed around the guild.

"She certainly does not! Get back here you dirty, flea-ridden tomcat!" Happy, seeing how serious his one true love wanted his blood at that moment in time, squealed in fear and flew to a giggling Mira for protection. As Carla landed on the bar, the takeover mage quickly decided to end the chase.

"Now now Carla. At least let Erza finish before you hurt Happy." Reluctantly agreeing with the barmaid, the white Exceed settled down to listen to what the Re-quip mage had to say.

"Thank you Mira! Don't worry Carla nothing happened. After all, I would have killed Natsu if he even dared to think about trying anything!" Everyone shivered as Erza smiled a very sadistic grin at the thought of what she would do if her friend were to ever attempt to use a woman for his own gains. Shaking her head to snap herself out of the quite disturbing thoughts, the scarlet torturer quickly resumed her explanation.

"However I believe that whatever Wendy said has helped Natsu. When I was there I could feel his magic. It looks like his control has finally come back to him."

Everyone smiled at this, even Carla had a small smile on her face. It seemed that whatever the youngest member of Team Natsu said, may have bought their fire mage back to them. At least his liveliness, they could hope for at least that. It was too long since he cheered everyone up with some of his tomfoolery.

"Well that's great to know!" Mira practically sang with a beaming smile.

"I'm just shocked that the idiot has a soft smile, I never thought it was possible." Gray finally spoke, leaning casually against the bar. However it did not take long for Mira to embarrass him.

"He's always had a soft spot Gray. Just like you, waiting here to make sure that he's okay!" The teasing smile the model sent did not help the cool exterior the ice mage was trying to maintain. Turning away from the group. Gray began to matter under his breath, much to everyone's amusement as they all took a moment to laugh at their unfortunate friend.

Before Gray received anymore abuse the guild doors opened and the group looked up in hope, however it was not Natsu and Wendy. Lucy and Sting arrived in their usual high spirits. Spotting the group at the bar, the pair quickly made their way over to greet them.

"Hi guys! Are we going on a job today? Where's Wendy?" Lucy practically beamed at them. It was a strange position for the group to be in, they were so glad that Lucy had found such happiness and wanted to see it continue, yet they despised what it did to Natsu. They really did feel like a walking contradiction.

"Oh hey you two, Wendy's not here yet but we probably won't go on a job today. We're waiting to see if Natsu will be fully recovered soon or not. It would be nice for him to rejoin us." Erza replied smiling back at the couple. Surprisingly, it was Sting who next spoke with an expression of concern on his face.

"Is Natsu-san any better yet? It's been a while sin-" however he never got to finish his statement as Lucy cut him off with a dismissing wave of her hand.

"Don't worry about Natsu, that boy can bounce back from anything!" Nodding her head at her own words of wisdom, the Celestial Spirit mage continued on to the rest of the group,

"I'll wait for today but rent is coming up soon so I'll be dragging you all out soon!" With a laugh at her own joke, Lucy dragged Sting away with her to a private table for themselves, the rest of the group watching on. It was Mira who finally broke the silence as the two blondes left.

"Do you think she knows the actual reason why Natsu isn't well at the moment?" Everyone shock their heads as one, not even needing to process the question. It was Erza who finally gave a verbal answer.

"I think the guilt would kill her." This led to another awkward silence that stretched on for what seemed like forever. It was ended by a thoughtful Carla who summarised everything perfectly.

"Ignorance really is bliss."

* * *

Natsu groaned as he began to stir, his muscles protesting the fact that he was waking up, particularly after a night spent sleeping on his couch. Feeling a weight on his chest, the young mage glanced down and found a miniature forest of blue hair, the owner still snoozing happily, snuggled into his side. This caused Natsu to smile softly to himself.

Lifting his hand, the fire Dragon Slayer started to stroke the slumbering girl's hair. This seemed to resonate with the young Slayer as she burrowed closer to Natsu and his comforting warmth. Her actions made the older Dragon Slayer trade his soft smile for his usual fanged grin.

Thinking back into his memories, Natsu compared the Wendy he met when fighting the Oracion Seis and the Wendy that was here now. She may still be timid at times, but she had grown. Grown to the point where she would actively seek out her friends to support them through their trying times. Grown to the point where her magic was growing so that even the most powerful mages were being forced to take notice of her natural talents. It was at this moment that Natsu felt a foreign feeling creeping up inside him. He felt a strong sense of pride.

Pride in the fact that she would fight for everyone in the guild, despite her dislike for fighting. Pride for the fact that her caring side was so strong, that she would risk confrontation and discomfort for his sake. Most of all, he was proud of the fact that she was his little sister, that she considered him family.

Snapping himself out of his sentimental thoughts, Natsu decided that now would be the perfect time to wake up Wendy and get ready for the day. Shaking her gently, the pink-haired Slayer began to speak in an unusually soft voice.

"Hey Wendy, it's time to wake up." This did the trick as the youngest Dragon Slayer began to stir. Opening bleary brown eyes, the Sky Maiden stretched her arms above her head and let out a quick yawn, coming back into wakefulness, Wendy's attention soon focused on Natsu. With a big smile, she quickly greeted her brother figure.

"Good morning Natsu-nii, how did you sleep?"

Natsu idly realised that Wendy did not display any signs of embarrassment at waking up with him. This brought back the feeling of love and acceptance from the night before, the feeling that was helping the fire mage to get over his recent funk. The level of comfort they both felt around each other was helping them both ease away from the pains of the past. As he returned from the trip into his mind, Natsu realised that Wendy was watching, waiting patiently for his response. With his usual fanged grin, the son of Igneel replied happily.

"I did! Best sleep I've had in forever! Did you?" Blushing at the implication that she was the reason Natsu had a peaceful night's rest; Wendy took pride in the fact that she was able to help her brother at such a personal level. Looking up into the fire mage's eyes, the young Dragon Slayer's smile turned to a full beam as she answered Natsu's question.

"I slept great too Natsu-nii! It was just like sleeping with Grandeeney again!" This comment made the fire Dragon Slayer's face heat up instantly. It was high praise for someone to compare you to their dragon parent. It showed a bond that not many would ever have the privilege to know. Although he was not sure he deserved it, Natsu was determined to live up to the praise his little sister was so freely giving him.

"Well I'm erm… glad I could help Wendy!" Scratching the back of his head in a rare show of sheepishness, Natsu hoped she would get the message that he would always be there if she needed him. The sky Dragon Slayer seemed to get the implied meaning as she just nodded warmly at him and allowed the conversation to descend into silence.

However silence was never the fire Dragon Slayer's forte. For someone who had lost people he considered his family far too many times to count, silence was a torture device. To fill the void, his mind began to wonder over all that had happened since his return, how much pain he had been in. For the first time in a while, he felt confident, self-assured. He felt ready to embrace the future.

"Wendy…" He wanted to say more, yet the words stubbornly refused to surface, staying deep in his brain. However something in the tone seemed to get across to the girl. She fixed Natsu with a comforting smile, not content with just that, the young Slayer quickly gave voice to her thoughts.

"Natsu-nii, everything I said last night is true, you're not alone!" His casual grin met her words as he let them wash over him, warming him with their sincerity.

"Right then, I think it's breakfast time!" Natsu's growing excitement over food caused the Sky Sorceress to giggle, however she could not stop her stomach from growling loudly, unhappy that it had not been fed yet. This caused the fire mage to fall about in laughter as Wendy's face lit up in embarrassment.

"Natsu! Don't laugh!" However she could not stop the childish mage as he ran out to the kitchen to prepare their food, still laughing all the way. Despite the fact it was at her expense, the sky Dragon Slayer could not stop the smile that spread over her face as she heard him laugh. The laugh that always gave the guild so much energy and happiness. Getting to her feet, she quickly followed her brother into the kitchen, more than ready to eat her fill.

After they both had brief showers, (Wendy refused to let the fire mage leave without one.) The Sky Maiden discovered that Natsu was quite the cook. Then again she was not as surprised as she could have been; he was after all, a fire mage. Roasting things was his speciality. The whole meal turned out to be a very relaxed affair, they both casually talked and laughed as the fire Dragon Slayer prepared the food. The atmosphere continued to be pleasent as they both ate, enjoying the meal in a way only a Dragon Slayer can.

After their breakfast (mainly containing fish, Natsu had not been shopping recently.) Both of the Slayers relaxed letting their food settle as the chatted. Eventually though, they had to talk about what they were going to do for the rest of the day.

"Natsu-nii, do you feel like going to the guild today? You don't have to if you don't feel like it." The Sky Sorceress did not want to rush him back into a place he was not comfortable in, but there were people there who wanted to know he was okay. However her doubts were put to rest as the fire mage was all for going back to the guild.

"Yeah let's go back! Someone has to put that icy freak in his place!" It was something only the fire Dragon Slayer would ever say. Wendy once again found herself giggling at his antics. Glancing over to him, she saw Natsu running around spewing out offensive threats at an almost unfollowable rate. He soon stopped and turned to address the young Slayer.

"Want to go, Wendy?" Nodding her head eagerly made the fire mage grin as he turned around and proceeded to open his front door. He paused briefly when he suddenly felt a weight on his back. Turning his head around so he could see what was happening, Natsu was greeted with the beaming face of Wendy as she hopped on for a piggy back ride.

"Let's go, Natsu-nii!"

Laughing gleefully, the fire Dragon Slayer stabilized his little sister before he began sprinting towards the guild, all the while a certain sky Dragon Slayer squealed in joy.

* * *

"Wendy's taking a while to get here." Carla spoke aloud, worried that her Dragon Slayer still had not shown up. She had been waiting for what felt like days but was at most an hour. It was Gray who tried to offer the anxious Exceed some comfort.

"Relax Carla. As much as I hate to say it, Wendy is safe as long as that flaming idiot is with her. Right Erza?" Turning to the redhead, Gray expected to hear sounds of confirmation, unfortunately he was greeted by a murderous aura that seemed to be emanating from his childhood friend in droves. As expected, this frightened him to no end.

"He should have been here by now! I swear I'm going to kill him if he isn't here in ten minutes!" The entire bar group collectively sweat-dropped at her words but decided against saying anything. They valued their lives far too much to risk her wrath. Luckily though it seemed that it was Natsu's lucky day as less than a minute later said Dragon Slayer charged into the guild with Wendy still on his back, both laughing hysterically at the fun they were having.

Spotting the group at the bar, the two made their way over to them, each with a big grin on their faces. Wendy quickly jumped off Natsu so they could both greet their friends.

"Hi everyone, we're back." It was Carla who responded first, quickly flying over to the Sky Maiden settling into her arms before chastising her.

"Honestly child, making me worry like that. It was bad enough having to be left with Happy for so long." That sentence had everyone chuckling at the blue Exceeds expense. Taking offense, Happy wasted no time in sprouting his wings and flying away, all the while condemning them all for bullying him. Natsu turned again to face Team Natsu and Mira (minus Lucy) in an effort to greet them. He was however stopped by an armoured fist courtesy of Erza.

"You're late Natsu, what do you have to say for yourself?" While everyone else backed away from the angry redhead, the poor Dragon Slayer was half-conscience on the floor, not fully understanding what was going on around him.

"Sorry…Erza…" Titania quickly made her way over to her downed friend picking him up off the floor and helping the unfortunate soul find his feet. However before Natsu even had a fully stable footing, his head was crashed against the armoured chest of Erza in an embrace, once again causing the fire mage near fatal injury.

"I'm glad you're feeling better Natsu." With that the knight turned back to the bar in order to finish her cake, leaving the fire Dragon Slayer dazed on the floor whilst everyone laughed at his misfortune.

Luckily though Mira was in a merciful mood and helped Natsu to the bar where there was some flaming meat waiting just for him. Despite the fact that he had not long had breakfast, Natsu quickly dug into the food with gusto, demolishing it in record time.

"Jeez flame-brain, get some table manners would you?" Gray tried to sound annoyed but could not keep the slight tone of relief out of his voice. He was glad his Natsu was back. Letting out a belch of satisfaction, the fire mage turned in his seat to face his icy counterpart.

"Ah that hit the spot, thanks Mira. Oi! Ice-Princess! Fight me!" Gray could not deny he had been waiting to hear those words for a while, they signaled the return of Natsu to his former self. Of course he would never admit to being glad of this occurrence, so instead he put his thoughts into a grin as he faced down with his rival.

"Sure thing idiot, you're going down!" They both grinned at each other, both having their own conversation without the need of words. However this did not last long as they both pounced on each other, trading blows in their favourite past time.

"Aren't you going to stop them Erza?" Carla asked slightly concerned that the two may cause some serious damage to the guild; however the usually strict knight did not seem to be overly worried.

"I will soon, but for now, I'll let them have their fun."

"They do seem to be enjoying it don't they?" Mira giggled as she watched the two rivals clash and fight with one another. This prompted the rest of the group to turn and look up at the fighting; they were greeted with both mages grinning from ear-to-ear as fists and kicks were traded, each trying to get the other to submit.

Yet neither seemed able to get an advantage over the other, it did not help that both mages were in their respective competitive mode. Seeing as though there had to be a clear victor, both Natsu and Gray began to activate their magic.

For a brief moment everyone felt Natsu's magic, feeling the comfort and warmth it provided as it reminded them of all the times he fought for them, to protect them. They were reminded just how far the fire Dragon Slayer was willing to go to help anyone of them at the drop of a hat. However it was a brief moment for a reason.

Erza also felt the magic that was about to be released and had quickly come to the decision that the fight had to stop now. Getting up from her seat, the knight quickly covered the distance between herself and her childhood friends, grabbing both by the back of their heads, she clashed them together rather painfully, the sound echoing around the guild.

"Now now, no magic is allowed. I don't want the guild destroyed again, am I clear?" She finished her speech with a withering glare that scarred the fight right out of the rival mages who clung to each other in fear. Making high-pitched noises of confirmation seemed to placate the scarlet-haired beauty who seemed to already be forgetting the fight, she seemed quite eager to get back to the bar to relax.

Getting to their feet, Natsu and Gray made their way, gingerly, back towards the bar. However any peace they were expecting never arrived as a voice call out from the other side of the guild.

"Natsu-san!" The group at the bar looked up as Sting sprinted over wearing a wicked grin on his face, being tailed by a nervous looking Lucy. Reaching his destination the white Dragon Slayer pointed directly at Natsu before issuing his challenge.

"Fight me!"

He had waited for this moment for a long time. Sting had wanted to prove himself to his fellow Dragon Slayer as she struggled to forget the beating Natsu had given him and Rouge at the Grand Magic Games. It had driven him to train hard in order to one day keep his promise to Lector, even if today was not that day, he still wanted to test himself against his idol.

However the rest of Team Natsu did not look very keen on the idea. They all had varying faces of concern and doubt. Even Gray could not bother keep the worry off his face, no matter how cool and indifferent he tried to look. It was Erza who took the lead, standing to face Sting in order to politely reject his offer. However the resident fire Dragon Slayer cut her off before she could say anything.

"Hell yeah I'll fight you! I haven't had a good one in ages!" He was met by quite a few incredulous looks for his team and Mira, yet it was the Sky Dragon Slayer's that got his attention. She was deathly quiet, looking anywhere but at him with a thoughtful frown on her face. Sensing that he was beginning to stare Wendy finally looked him in the eye before asking one question.

"Are you sure, Natsu-nii?" Everyone present raised their eyebrows at the Sky Sorceresses term of address, however she did not seem all that bothered about the attention she was receiving, she was too busy starring at Natsu who was just starring right back at her, unflinching. After a few more seconds of silence the fire mage responded.

"Of course I am Wendy!" For once he looked serious; there was no goofy smile, no childish behaviour, just an aura of confidence. They resumed their intense staring contest, everyone else looking on puzzled or concerned at the two. Again after a few moments Wendy broke the silence sporting a big grin herself.

"Give him hell, Natsu-nii." This caused many different reactions among the assembled mages. Sting looked positively ecstatic, jumping up and down in excitement. His partner was the total opposite, never before had Lucy looked so divided over something, if anyone was honest; she looked like she was experiencing a pain she never though possile. Gray and Mira looked at Wendy with intrigue as they tried to figure out the shift in the Dragon Slayer's friendship. But it was Erza who looked the most concerned. Turning to face the Son of Igneel, the knight decided to speak her mind.

"Are you sure about this Natsu? You've only just regained full control of your magic." Natsu could not help but smile at the worry that his friend had for him, however he felt ready and he was not letting a fight with a fellow Slayer pass him over so easily.

"Of course I'm sure Erza! Besides what better way to get the rust out than by fighting." Sighing to herself, Erza slowly nodded at one of the few times Natsu's logic may actually be right about something. This was seen as her giving them permission, with a cheer both Dragon Slayers ran out of the front doors to prepare for their battle.

"Erza, are you sure it's wise to allow this?" Mira's worried voice asked her one-time rival as she watched the rest of the guild funnel out, chatting excitedly about the rematch they were about to see.

"It's Natsu Mira, even if I forbid him, he'd still ignore me and fight. Besides I believe in him! I always have and I always will." With this Erza stood and walked out to spectate on the fight about to happen. The rest of the team soon followed, a certain Celestial summoner trailing behind, looking for all the world that someone had played her worse fears to her.

The guild had started doing what they always did in these types of situations; they started betting on the fight ahead. Although they all believed in Natsu, the fact that he had not been active for the past few weeks lowered his odds considerably. Most people were betting on Sting to win. However that was most people. Wendy and Erza had wasted no time in betting in favour of Natsu, even Gray did, however he was secretive in his support, making sure it was only Cana, the person in charge of the betting, who knew.

The two Dragon Slayers were busy eyeing each other, both sporting big grins on their faces. The sense of anticipation began to build for the spectators, their silence creating waves of tension as they waited for someone to make the first move. A breeze ideally drifted by on the sunny summer's day as both combatants seemed ready to pounce at a moments notice. Suddenly the fight started. Charging onward, Sting threw his fist forward, yelling out a battle cry.

Seeing the punch approaching, Natsu quickly dodged, lighting his own fist on fire in the process. As Sting's attack safely passed him by, the fire mage swung his own fist, countering his opponent with a swift jab to the jaw, sending the white Dragon Slayer backwards. However as Sting was falling back, he screamed out his next attack.

" **White Dragon's Roar!** " The laser of light flew at Natsu at an ungodly speed, catching him unawares and forcing him to block, grunting at the exertion it put him under. Getting sent flying back, the fire Dragon Slayer quickly righted himself in mid-air before landing on a wall. Using it for a jump start, Natsu unleashed his own roar.

Seeing the massive torrent of fire closing in, Sting quickly side-stepped. He was not however expecting a flame boosted Natsu to head butt him in the stomach, driving the air from his lungs.

" **Fire Dragon's Sword Horn**." Once again the pink-haired Slayer drove his opponent back as he regained his footing. Planting a hand in the ground to steady himself, Sting successfully managed to stop his relentless backwards skid. Covering his fists in pure white light, the white Dragon Slayer once again charged at his opponent, hoping to engage in close combat.

Seeing what Sting wanted, Natsu let out a whoop before charging in as well, this was after all, his favourite hobby. As both opponents closed in on each other, they both cocked their fists back before swinging at each other. However neither side gained an advantage as their attacks collided, sending a jarring shock wave that was felt throughout Magnolia.

Fighting to stay upright, the rest of Team Natsu looked on, pleased that their Dragon Slayer seemed to be fighting decently against his opposition.

"Go Natsu!" Wendy cheered, completely forgetting her honorifics in her excitement. She may not enjoy fighting, but she loved how happy Natsu looked while he fought. So carefree and happy. The rest of the bar group, sans Lucy, could not help but smile at her enthusiasm.

"He's doing well isn't he?" Mira pointed out with happiness as Natsu seemed to be gaining control of the battle. The others nodded in agreement.

"He's growing even stronger." Erza said, with pride in her voice as she watched her childhood friend maintain control of the battle. Mira nodded in agreement, while Gray stayed silent, refusing to give anyone that satisfaction of knowing that he was proud of Natsu. Noticing this, Mira could not help herself as she began to tease the ice mage.

"Don't worry Gray, we're proud of you too." Everyone chuckled as Gray looked away mumbling to himself.

"Let's just focus on the fight shall we?" A thoroughly teased Gray said with a tint of embarrassment in his voice.

"Aye Sir! Let's support Natsu!" Happy said as everyone turned back to the fight, determined to give Natsu their full support.

Sting took a couple of steps back to gather his wits and take a quick break. Natsu had been on the offensive for a while and had driven him back considerably. Standing up straight, the white Dragon Slayer called out to his opponent.

"I'm glad you're getting back to normal Natsu-san, it means when I win, I'll have no regrets. I hope you're ready! **White Drive**!" Light cloaked Sting as he prepared his next phase of magic. Charging forward the white Dragon Slayer delivered a devastating hook to the face of his counterpart.

"I think this is where it ends for Natsu, he's just been out of action for too long." Wakaba said as Sting began to manhandle his childhood idol, gaining many nods from different members of the guild. However it was an unlikely source that disagreed with him.

"Salamander beat him once, he can do it again. He'll get used to it." Gajeel said, much to the disbelief of the rest of the guild.

"Did you just say something nice about Natsu?" Macao said in shock; however he soon regretted it as the Iron Dragon Slayer had a positively menacing aura about him.

"That was not a compliment; I was just stating the facts. Right?" Everyone around quickly nodded not wanting to antagonise the volatile Dragon Slayer anymore. Turning their attention back to the fight, they saw what Gajeel said was saying, turning out to be correct. Natsu was indeed getting used to the increased tempo and was beginning to fight back with zeal.

Just like in the Grand Magic Games, the fire Dragon Slayer began to turn the tide of the battle. With Sting flinging another fist, the fire mage decided it was time to counter.

" **Fire Dragon's Claw**!" He shouted as he leapt up over the white Dragon Slayer's attack, igniting his feet and delivering an excruciating roundhouse kick to his opponent's face, but he was not finished. As Sting stumbled back, Natsu rushed forward grabbing one half of the Twin Dragons before setting his hands ablaze and sending him flying with a devastating **Fire Dragon's Wing Attack**.

As Sting flew away, the fire Dragon of Fairy Tail once again launched after him, igniting his elbow and fist, he propelled himself forward and meet his opponent with a series of burning punches due to his **Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow.** After the damage was done Natsu grabbed Sting and threw him to the ground, preparing his magic for a brutal attack.

"With a flame on my right hand, and a flame on the left hand. When you combing the flames together, **Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"** Launching his fireball at his opponent, Natsu watched the blinding explosion as he landed panting slightly after all the exertion. As the flames and smoke began to clear, Sting was revealed to be down on one knee, but not yet out of the fight.

"Heh, that really packed a punch Natsu-san. I guess it's time to go all out." With this being said the third generation Dragon Slayer entered his Dragon Force much to the worry of the rest of the guild.

"Is it wise to let this continue? It could cause some serious damage if it gets out of control." Bisca pointed out as Asuka squirmed in her arms, mesmerised by the spectacle that Sting and her 'Uncle Natsu' were putting on for their friends. Other members murmured their agreement with the sniper as they feared the possible repercussions of what would happen if Magnolia was flattened.

Everyone turned to Erza who seemed suddenly surprised that everyone's attention was on her. Despite the fact that she wanted to keep the fighting going so that Natsu could win, the responsible side of her knew the damages would be steep if their more destructive tendencies would appear. With a sigh Erza began to make her way towards the battle, but was stopped as Stung unleashed a devastating attack.

" **Holy Ray!** " Hundreds of rays of light bombarded Natsu as the fire mage screamed out at the unexpected agony. His entire body seemed to be a target as the attack ruthlessly damaged anything it could get in contact with. Dropping to one knee, Natsu was forced to endured the attack, taking a moderate amount of damage. Looking up at Sting and seeing a look of confidence on his face, the fire Dragon Slayer let out a slight chuckle.

"looks like I'm going to have to go all out too! **Lightning Fire Dragon Mode!** " The Sabertooth mage could only look on in shock as Natsu stood, coated in a mixture of lightning and flames. Using is opponent's state of surprise to his advantage, the now buffed up fire Dragon Slayer unleashed a multi-elemental roar directly at Sting.

" **Lightning Fire Dragon's Roar!** " The attack hit directly into the unfortunate white Dragon Slayer's chest, knocking him off his feet and causing an earth shattering explosion. Despite this powerful attack, Sting managed to at least kneel on both legs, adamantly refusing to admit defeat.

"Sorry Natsu-san, I'm not giving up!" Despite his words, the white Dragon Slayer could not get to his feet, too exhausted to do anything but watch the rest of the fight play out. Natsu only nodded at his words in understanding, giving his fellow Dragon Slayer some respect before answering.

"You gave me one hell of a fight Sting, but I've got to end it now." With this lightning and flame each covered a separate arm as the fire Dragon Slayer powered up his final spell. Beginning to spin his arms around, Natsu closed his eyes before starting to chant.

" **Secret Dragon Slayer Art:** **Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Lightning Blade!** " just as he was about to unleash his attack, Natsu opened his eyes and what he saw caused him to completely power down his attack. A familiar blonde Celestial Spirit mage was stood in front of the kneeling Sting with her arms spread wide in defence.

"Lucy?" Natsu could not stop the worried question from spilling out. He wanted to run over and check that she was okay, chastise her for putting herself in harm's way; however the look on her face stopped any of that from happening. It was a look of unimaginable fury.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Natsu? Are you trying to kill Sting?! I know you can be irresponsible, but this takes it to a whole new level!" Everyone could see the pain that appeared on the fire Dragon Slayer's face at these words. Looking down at the ground, Natsu asked one single question.

"You think I was trying to kill him? Luce, don't you trust me?" Lucy sighed at this. She looked directly into her former best friends eyes, before saying a sentence that nearly destroyed the Dragon Slayer.

"I don't know Natsu, I just don't know." Turning around, Lucy began to help Sting up before she started to guide him into the guild and towards the infirmary. The rest of the guild began to slowly filter back into the hall, casting sympathetic glances Natsu's way. Soon only the remaining members of Team Natsu were left as Mira had to go back inside to man the bar.

Wendy was the first to move, running forward to hug Natsu around the waist. She was quickly joined by Happy who landed on the fire Dragon Slayer's head while Erza and Gray both laughed a hand on each of his shoulders. Even Carla had a look of sympathy as she flew around above everyone.

"Don't worry flame-brain she didn't mean any of it. She was just stressed out at having to watch a fight between two of the most important people in her life." Erza nodded her head in agreement as she slightly squeezed her hand in support.

"It was a rather insensitive thing to say." Carla sniffed as she looked on at the scene in front of her.

"Aye! Lucy's weird anyway Natsu! Your fight was awesome!" Happy cheered at his adoptive father.

"Come inside Natsu-nii, I'm sure Mira will have something for you!" Wendy spoke as she looked up at him with a gentle smile.

Looking around at his team, Natsu saw nothing but understanding and compassion from them all. Getting slightly watery-eyed, the fire mage could not stop the feeling of immense gratitude from filling him as his friends stood by him.

"Thanks guys. It means a lot." He practically whispered, however everyone heard it and saw the small smile of appreciation he had on his face. The entire group smiled back as they guided him back inside the guild. Moving to the bar, they all sat down. Wendy insisted on looking over Natsu to check for any wounds, pleasing him secretly that she was fussing over him, even if he refused to show it due to pride. Soon Mira appeared with a large plate of food especially for the fire Dragon Slayer.

"Here you go Natsu, on the house this time." She gave him a tender smile before rushing off to help see to the other members. With the small smile still on his face, the fire mage nibbled at the food in front of him, beginning to get lost in his thoughts. Some commutation at the stairs pulled him out of his mind as he and the rest of the bar group looked on as Sting re-entered the guild hall.

It looked like the Dragon Slayer wanted to come over and chat with them, however Lucy quickly appeared behind him and he seemed to change his mind with a slight look of disappointment. He was quickly ushered to a table by his girlfriend who had no problem in blanking everyone sat at the bar. Subdued, Natsu went back to his previous activity of nibbling at his food and getting lost in his thoughts, his smile now gone.

His team desperately tried to think of something to say, something to alleviate the burden, yet no matter how hard they tried, nothing seemed to come to mind. This seemed to upset Wendy who looked down at the orange juice Mira had given her in sadness.

Luckily for his team, a distraction chose to appear at that very moment to help out. The doors to the guild hall were flung open and in walked Minerva, flanked by Rouge, Yukino and the two Exceeds Lector and Frosch. As the members of Fairy Tail gaped at their guests, Minerva quickly decided to speak up.

"Hello Fairy Tail! Don't mind us we're just here to talk to our wayward Dragon Slayer."

* * *

 **There we go, first time I've really had to write a fight scene like that so I can only hope it was alright! anyway onto reviews!**

 **Silver Full - I will continue don't worry! Natsu and Yukino are too adorable to have so little stories!**

 **DdraigTrueEmperor9 - Thanks for the compliments, I'm happy that I managed to pull off the sibling relationship, hopefully I can continue with it. Although I don't hate Lucy I do dislike how she's been characterized and usually tend to stay away from the Nalu pairing as there are so many stories for them anyway. (My personal favorite will probably always be Naza) However no is not the time for a rant so I'll leave it at that for now.**

 **Director Maliwan - Thanks for the kind words! Hope you're doing better as well, that sort of things always sucks, I hope this story helps keep your mind off it for a while! Also suggest away! I am someone who always has a clear start and finish but never a clear middle, so your suggestions are always welcome. Although my story wasn't going in that direction, I still like the idea of training and will probably be pinching it so thanks for that too! Once again hope you're doing better!**

 **Universe Slayer- Hope this was fast enough, it's the quickest I've ever updated!**

 **Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, I'll start working on the next one when I decide how it will go down!**


	3. Pastures New

**Before I do my pre-story messages I just want to say there is another awesome NatsuxYukino story that seems to be up and coming called _The Other Celestial Mage _ by _inizhay_ that you should check out!**

 **Okay real life blocked me from getting writing done (damn dissertation writing to hell!), but I finally managed to write this through work and trying to get some of my own writing projects underway! Also a massive thank you, this blew up so quick almost at 100 followers, not only that but many writers I've read and generally respect have followed this! Makes me feel all giddy! So as a treat for finishing Uni and for you guys making this story awesome, here's an 8,000 word chapter and a little analysis into Fairy Tail.**

 **5 Moments That Natsu Was Characterised That Often Slip Attention (THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)**

 **1) "You keep up that tough guy act, and you'll never get a girlfriend" (Anime Episode 20)**

 **This line that Lucy says to Natsu is immediately followed by a flash of Lisanna's legs, which is followed by Natsu storming away from Lucy. It's brilliant because we see how the death of Lisanna actually affects Natsu and even after these years it still pained him. It was an early indication that Natsu does have a softer side to match his brash, destructiveness. The fact that he still hurts shows that he is ultimately human, he maybe as tough as a dragon but he still feels sadness and grief when he loses something precious to him.**

 **2) Natsu and Wendy Magic Drain (Anime Episode 85)**

 **There are so many things to say about this short section. I'll start by saying remember, Wendy literally just joined the guild and Natsu still leaps up to defend and encourage her as if she's been there since the start, we're seeing more groundwork for the interesting relationship between Natsu and Wendy and the Sibling like bond they share. Not only that It's another example of Natsu caring about others in front of himself and his unbreaking determination to make sure she gets out okay. Overall it just adds depth to a character who is often said to have none at all.**

 **3) Erza Creates Pandemonium (Anime Episode 166)**

 **This is one of my favourite scenes in the entirety of Fairy Tail, everyone in the stadium (even members of Fairy Tail) are shocked when Erza goes against all 100 monsters, all except two people, Natsu and Gray. They both laugh. This is so amazing as it shows and incredible bond between all 3 have (I've got to include Gray xD) Through their actions it is implied that both Natsu and Gray knew she was going to do this and it came as no shock to them when she went ahead and did it. I personally think that Natsu has a very special bond with Erza and this is one of the best ways it is shown in the entire series.**

 **4)Momento Mori (Anime Episodes 262/263)**

 **I see a lot of people generally thinking that Gray and Natsu hate each other. All we need to disprove this is Episode 263, when it appears that Gray dies (again) from the spell of Mard Geer and Natsu snaps, entering Dragon Force. Not only is this the only time Natsu has entered Dragon Force with no external stimulus, but it's only the second time he's done it to save one single person (Erza being the other instance). The way he screams Gray's name when it appears that he's dead is also chilling, Natsu is generally in pain when he sees Gray take that spell. On top of all this, the way they finally finish of Mard is beyond a doubt a fitting tribute to their relationship. All of this shows the care that Natsu has for Gray and vice-versa. They share a special bond between them and that much is confirmed by this fight.**

 **5) Natsu Leaves For a Year and The Gildarts Chapter (Anime Episode 265 and Manga Chapter 417)**

 **Natsu's main goal throughout the series is to find Igneel, only to have him killed in front of his face. So why does this equal great characterisation? He leaves. To me, after Tartaros ends Natsu is broken and lost, his main goal in life is gone and he doesn't know what to do, so he leaves to see if he can find some direction for his life. And this is why the Gildarts chapter is so great. We see Natsu talking about it with him and he obviously gives him some advice (It's amazingly done without a single line of dialogue). Natsu is broken and lost and he (luckily) finds one of the people he looks up to the most and they help him. He is still vulnerable and still needs guidance from those more experienced making it such a humble moment and one that should be remembered as a brilliant bit of characterisation for Natsu.**

 **Bonus - Asuka Omake (Anime Episode 219)**

 **It's bloody cute as balls the way he is with her, that's why it's on as a bonus! xD**

 **Did I miss anything? Feel free to hurl abuse if you didn't agree! Anyway tried to keep it as short as possible so it doesn't disrupt the story too much, If you want another analysis like this tell me and I'll do more, I've got more things to rant about (definitely not Lucy...) but if you just want the story tell me to F*** off! Reviews at the bottom again and onto the new chapter!**

* * *

 **Pastures New**

The entire guild was flummoxed. Three of Sabretooth's best had just strolled into Fairy Tail, with the sole objective of finding their master. It was not because the guild was an unwelcoming place, the exact opposite was true, they loved guests. It was just that it was not every day that three powerful mages strolled so casually into their hall. No one had moved for a good few minutes, being unable to take their eyes off of the Sabre mages.

The looks seemed to unnerve and Yukino and Rouge, both of them shifting at the attention However Minerva seemed unfazed by it. In fact she was already scouting, checking every corner for Sting. It did not take her long to spot him sat with a gapping Lucy.

With a smirk at how terrified the White Dragon Slayer looked, Minerva strode over to him, grabbing the poor soul around the neck as she began to drag him out of the guild hall.

"Thank you for your time Fairy Tail, I'm sure we'll see you soon!" With that, the three mages began to leave, however Sting had other plans. Struggling out of Minerva's grasp, he stood defiantly in front of his guild mates much to their chagrin.

"Sting come on, it's time to go!" Rouge said a slight bit of annoyance finding its way into his voice. This however did nothing to change the defiance that came from his best friend.

"I'm not going!"

The three mages could only stare at their friend in shock; meanwhile just about everyone in Fairy Tail began to shift awkwardly in their seats. This was something they really did not feel right watching as it felt like something that should be discussed in private. While the fairies were squirming, Minerva had quickly forgotten her shock and traded it for irritation, pinching the bridge of her nose; she decided that it would be a good idea to point out the flaws in his resistance.

"Sting you can't be so irresponsible, you're our guild master! You can't just up and leave." Said mage began shifting from one foot to the other, hoping his next words would not annoy his three friends any more than they already were.

"No you've got it all wrong! I'm only taking some time off to be with Lucy. I'm going to come back soon." Although this came as a relief to the Sabre mages, there were still some issues that needed to be dealt with. Stepping forward, it was surprisingly Yukino who asked the difficult question.

"Err Sting-sama… We understand that you want to spend time with Lucy-sama, but who will be our master if you spend all your time here?" It was of course a valid question. A guild could not function without a leader, and they seemed to be losing theirs, even if it was only temporary. However Sting did not look fazed, in fact, he looked confident, sure that he had the answer to the current problem his guild was having.

"Don't worry; I have someone in mind who will be an awesome master! Minerva-san, will you be temporary guild master for a while please?"

Many gasps again sounded out from the guild, many of whom had not forgotten what she had done to Lucy in the Grand Magic Games. Although they had forgiven, they had not yet forgotten. Their surprise however, was nothing compared to that of the Territory mage.

"Are you sure Sting? There are plenty of other members that can take over." Everyone stayed silent at this, it was not often Minerva would show any vulnerably and in front of an entire guild, it was unheard of. Sting however did not seem phased by her self-doubt.

"The past is the past Minerva-san, Fairy Tail taught us that. You'll do great." Minerva nodded to herself, deep in thought at her friend's words. Turning to address the group, Sabre's temporary leader forced back her thoughts before focusing on the anxious faces of her comrades.

"Well I guess that's it then. He's not coming back yet." The others gapped at her in shock. Rouge especially did not take it well as his face turned from surprise to displeasure.

"What do you mean that's it? We can't just leave him behind Minerva; he belongs back at the guild." The stubborn tone did nothing but aggravate the situation. Sting looked down at his feet, fidgeting uncomfortable while Minerva sighed in mild frustration.

"We can't force him to come back with us Rouge. If he wants to stay, we have to let him." The Shadow Dragon Slayer looked set to continue the argument, however a hand on his shoulder made him turn, coming face to face with his best friend.

"Rouge…" The Twin Dragons stared at each other not saying a word. They stayed that way for nearly a minute, neither looking away from the other as time stretched on, unnoticed in their intense stand-off. Eventually it was Rouge who broke the eye contact, turning to face his companions; he motioned for them to start leaving causing Sting to burst out into a massive grin.

"Come on then I guess we're going home." The Shadow Dragon Slayer said as he began to head towards the doors, closely followed by the rest, save one exceed. Lector had moved over to the slayer and refused to move.

"I'm not going anywhere without Sting-kun! If he stays I stay." This of course moved the White Dragon Slayer who immediately hugged his exceed close to him, enjoying having his friend back after the weeks they were apart. The Sabre mages looked on with mixed emotions. They were glad that their friend was happy however they wished that he was coming home with them. Turning again to leave, Minerva ushered the group towards the doors calling back over her shoulder.

"Even if you're not coming back permanently soon, at least come and visit!" Sting made noises of confirmation before going back to catching up with Lector, eagerly chatting away about the spar he had with Natsu. Pleased with this agreement, Minerva strode purposefully to the door, reaching out to grab the handle, however she was stopped by a gentle voice.

"Minerva-sama, I just thought of something." The Territory mage lifted an eyebrow in curiosity at Yukino's words. She beckoned for her to continue, intrigued to know what was on the Celestial Spirit mage's mind.

"It's just if you're acting head and Sting-sama stays here, then we lose two mages, as you won't be active anymore, which means we would lose two key members."

Minerva pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. How did she miss that? With herself and Sting unavailable the guild would lose two of its best. It was a gaping hole that needed to be filled. Looking around Fairy Tail for inspiration, her eyes eventually settled on the bar where Team Natsu and Mira were currently talking amongst themselves, probably about the events that had just happened in front of their eyes. She was about to look away when Erza leaned over in her seat and said something to a familiar figure.

' _If Fairy Tail can take one of our Dragon Slayers, then surely it's only fair that we take one of theirs.'_ The now head of Sabretooth thought as she walked over towards them, a smirk plastered on her face, confusing Rouge and Yukino who were following on behind.

All eyes followed her approach, curious at what she was up to. Minerva ignored the looks she was getting and casually took a seat, the smirk still in place. She did not say a word, even as people stared, unashamed and uncaring about causing offense. Eventually Erza broke the silence, not liking the uncomfortable awkwardness.

"Hello Minerva, it's nice to see you. I hope you are doing well?" The Territory mage sighed dramatically at her old enemy's question, really attempting to play up her response.

"I was until I found out we were going to be losing a member for a while." She again sighed, giving off an air of sadness, hoping that the fairy mages bought it.

"Ah yes it was quite unfortunate, but Sting is finding his way. I'm sure he'll come back to you soon." Minerva nodded at Erza's words, her mind briefly flickering back to her own mistakes and how the Scarlett Warrior helped her. Forcing her thoughts to the back of her mind for later, she carried on with the conversation.

"I'm sure he will, however, we are left with a slight problem. We've lost one of our Dragon Slayers while you seem to have gained one" With this being said, the smirk from earlier made its way back onto her face as she turned her gaze to Natsu who seemed unsure what to make of the attention he was receiving. Minerva seemed to be looking at him as if he was prey.

"In the spirit of fairness, wouldn't it be best if we were to take one off your hands for a while." The whole guild went deathly quiet; it appeared that everyone had been eavesdropping on the conversation. No one had expected that to come out of the Territory mage's mouth.

Erza for one looked shocked at the suggestion, not believing what her friend had just suggested. Her shock turned to disbelief when she followed Minerva's eyes and landed her sight upon Natsu.

"Wait just one moment, you want Natsu?" The entire guild awaited the response, no one dared to breathe in case they shattered the atmosphere. Sabretooth's Mistress did not seem overly bothered by her surroundings. She continued to casually relax on her bar stool as if this was a normal conversation between two friends, without an entire guild as an audience.

"Of course he'd be perfect." The silence did not last long after that. The entire guild thunderously roared out their disapproval, angered that they wanted their Natsu, that they would dare take him away from them. Yukino seemed to shrink away from the noise, as if scorched by the intensity of the outrage coming from Fairy Tail. Rouge showed nothing, his face remained its usual stoic self, however, he did move closer to Frosch, putting a hand on the Exceed's back. Minerva did not seem fazed at all by the reaction, her smirk never faltered as she casually relaxed, waiting for the storm to pass as she enjoyed a drink that Mira had fetched for her.

Eventually, the noise began to die down as the guild let the last of their protests out, leaving an unnatural quiet. Erza's eyes had refocused on Minerva during the ranting and had not moved since. It was like she was trying to pierce into the poor woman's mind, trying to see her thoughts. The Territory mage was not phased, matching Titania's stare with a cold one of her own.

"You can't have Natsu; his place is here in Fairy Tail, with his team." The Scarlet-haired Knight announced, eyes never leaving her one-time enemies as shouts of approval came from the Fairy mages present. This did not seem to trouble Minerva. A sly smile spread across her lips as she responded.

"Shouldn't we ask him that question Titania; I believe that Salamander can speak for himself."

Every head in the guild turned to Dragon Slayer expectantly, awaiting his response.

Natsu had never felt so awkward in all his life. Usually he would thrive under scrutiny, but this seemed to be the one time he would have preferred to be a quiet observer in the background. Did he even want to leave Fairy Tail? He would not be gone forever yet the thought of leaving seemed like such a foreign concept.

However one thought constantly nagged at him. Sure he had got his magic back, but just because he did not feel quite so isolated did not mean that his heartbreak was magically healed. It still hurt him, bothering him day-to-day. Maybe time away would allow him to heal.

With his mind in turmoil, Natsu looked at the faces of his friends and team, not knowing what he would find. He started with Wendy. His little sister was giving him a supportive smile, tinged with sadness, he was sure that she would support whatever he decided to do, yet he could tell she wanted him to stay.

Erza seemed to have a very guarded, calculating look on her face. He knew what she was thinking. She was trying to work out whether he would actually leave or not. He imagined that she would probably force him to stay if he chose to leave. This caused a small smile to appear on his face, she had a weird way of showing it but Erza cared about him, another person who would never let him be lonely.

Gray was trying to appear indifferent; however there was something in his eyes that showed his true feelings. He wanted Natsu to stay. The guild would not be the same without his rival; after all he was losing his main source for a good fight.

Mira had a worried look spread over her beautiful features, causing a slight bit of guilt to rise in the Fire Dragon Slayer. He did not want any more to be too stressed for him and it was typical of the model to be so concerned for one of her friends. He just hoped that she would go back to smiling soon.

Despite the fact he wanted to stop there, Natsu could not stop his eyes from seeking out the last member of Team Natsu. Their eyes met only for a brief second, before Lucy turned away, blanking her 'best friend' and causing a cold stab of fire to shoot through his chest. He only wanted to know she wanted him around; he would have learnt to ignore his feelings for her sake as long as she gave some indication that she wanted him to stay in her life, however she blatantly did not care whether he stayed or went.

He began to sink into heartache when a rather shy voice spoke up, surprising everyone around as it broke the silence that had fallen.

"Natsu-sama. I know it's not really my place to say, but I'd love to have you in the guild for a while."

The addressed Dragon Slayer stared at the nervous Yukino who was giving him a comforting smile. Not quite believing that he would be accepted just like that, Natsu looked to Rouge who gave him a single nod despite keeping his usual stoic expression. The Fire Dragon Slayers eyes finally landed on Minerva who was sat still smirking. Whether it was in agreement with her guild mates or amusement at the trouble she had caused would forever remain a mystery.

However in a moment of clarity, Natsu realised that if he remained in Fairy Tail he might never heal. He himself would admit he was not the most intelligent individual, but it did not take a genius to work out that every day he came to the guild he would be forced to see Lucy be reminded of their shattered friendship and his aching heart. How she would cling and hide behind Sting as if he was a threat to her, He would not be able to stand it.

This meant there was only one thing he could realistically do. Accept the offer and join Sabretooth for the foreseeable future.

Looking around one last time at the faces of his friends, Natsu faced the rest of the guild before announcing his decision.

"I'll do it; I'll join Sabretooth for now." It was not often that Fairy Tail was reduced to silence, so two times in the space of a day was unheard of. The entire guild stared at Natsu, no one really sure how to respond. The Fire Dragon Slayer hung his head, he was one of the bravest fighters in all of Fiore, but when it came to his friend's disappointment, he could not stand to look.

"That's great Natsu! We'll just wait outside for you as you say your goodbyes." Minerva spoke with a pleased grin, she stood, nodding goodbye to various members before exciting. Rouge again gave his fellow Dragon Slayer a quick nod letting a subtle smile pull at the corner of his lips as he said,

"Glad to have you Natsu." With this he too turned and headed for the door, sending another nod to both Gajeel and Sting as he vanished out the door with Frosch. Yukino was more open with her reaction; she shyly looked to Fairy Tail's Fire Dragon Slayer before sending him a beaming smile.

"Thank you for saying yes Natsu-sama, I look forward to having you around the guild. It means a lot to have another friend join." With that she too turned and began walking away, smiling at Mira before sending a wave of her own towards Sting and Lucy.

Natsu watched her go feeling better about this whole idea. Yukino was right, he did have friends in Sabretooth, it would be easier to get used to living there with people like her and Rouge around. This however did not mean he would not miss his friends in Fairy Tail. One of which was making his way towards him, little legs carrying her towards her 'uncle'.

Asuka Connell was making her way over to Natsu as quickly as her legs could carry her. Finally making it up to him she held her arms out demanding to be picked up, bringing a slight chuckle out the Fire Dragon Slayer as he bent over to answer her request, placing her on his shoulders so she would be comfortable. After securing herself in her new seat, the young girl bent over to look into the face of the older mage so she could talk to him properly.

"Are you really leaving the guild Natsu?" Black met purple as Asuka managed to find Natsu's eyes and hold his gaze for a while. Smiling at the comfortable child softly, the Fire Dragon Slayer reached up and tipped her cowboy hat over her eyes causing the young girl to huff slightly.

"It looks like it, for the time being anyway." Asuka seemed to consider this for a moment her face scrunched in thought. Coming to a decision as her parents came to collect her, she hugged the top of the older mage's head, burying herself in the pink hair she found there.

"Okay you can leave, but you have to come to visit and play all the time or I might start to miss you!" Natsu smiled as she began to pat his head. Bisca and Alzack came forward to collect their daughter from her little nest she had set up on their Dragon Slayer's head. Alzack stepped forward, effortlessly picking up Asuka, handing her over to his wife as they all looked to their leaving friend.

"Come visit soon Natsu, we'll miss you just as much as Asuka will!" The gunslinger said quickly followed by Bisca's own encouraging words,

"Come home soon Natsu, I'll know you'll do great at Sabre." With these things said the family walked away with Asuka waving over her mother's shoulder as a final goodbye.

"Oi Flame-brain! Try not to embarrass yourself too much at Sabre." Natsu jumped slightly as Gray's voice cut into his goodbyes. Turning around he was faced with the smirking face of his rival, with an ever present Water mage stood not too far behind him.

He already knew this was the best he was going to get from the Ice mage, but the two had no need for words, they never had before and they probably never would.

"Try and sort out your stripping by the time I'm back Ice-princess. No one wants to see that." With one last smirk at each other, Gray walked away leaving his rival alone with the person who was in the running for Gray's number one fan.

"Juvia, I know I don't need to ask, but can you have Ice-pricks back for me while I'm gone? Someone has to make sure he survives." The Water mage gave him a smile, nodding in response before saying,

"Juvia will always look after Gray-sama! But Juvia is also worried about Natsu-san. Look after yourself for Juvia and the guild." And with that she was off, chasing after Gray making her love's main rival chuckle despite the farewells that were being said.

"Natsu…" Said Dragon Slayer quickly found the source of the voice. Happy was flying towards him slowly, conflict showing on the poor Exceed's face as he appeared deep in thought. Stopping in mid-air, Happy looked his father dead in the eye before continuing his train of thought with conviction.

"I'm coming with you!" Although that sentence filled him with such pride and love, Natsu knew he could not take Happy with him. There was too much for him here and he would be damned if he was the reason that he took his 'son' away from everything he loved.

"Happy, you won't like this but I want you to stay here in Fairy Tail." The Exceed was opening his mouth to argue however, he was cut off by his partner bringing him close to his chest directly over his heart.

"I'll miss you little buddy, but there's too much for you here. I can't take you away from it all, besides..." With this Natsu pointed to Lector who appeared to be creeping closer and closer to Carla. This enraged Happy who immediately flew off to stop any more passes at 'his woman' with a suspiciously well known 'love rival' catchphrase being shouted out. Natsu chuckled as his best friend flew away however, his smile turned guarded as Sting made his way over to him.

"Ah man, I can't believe you're going Natsu-san! I was looking forward to training and sparring with you. But I already know you'll take great care of my guild so it's fine! Come back to visit soon so we can have another fight!"

With his piece said, Sting gave his idol one last smile before making his way back the way he came, leaving a now smiling Natsu. He could not hold this against him, he saw a chance to be happy and he took it. He was just a young man in love.

His thoughts were interrupted by a firm hand grasping his shoulder. Turning around he found Erza stood beside him, hair shadowing her eyes as she held onto his shoulder tightly, refusing to let go. For a split second Natsu thought she was going to put him through her own version of hell, but instead he saw something worse, something that made his insides churn with guilt. Tears were falling from both her eyes. She was trying to smile but he could tell that it was forced for his sake; the sadness in her eyes could not hide from him.

Quickly re-equipping into her white sleeveless shirt and blue blouse, Erza gently lowered him to the crook of her neck before wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace. Natsu did not have to be told twice, he immediately held her close determined to comfort the now crying woman.

"Don't you think for one second that you are responsible for hurting any of us when you need time to heal. We all know why you're going; you don't have to explain it to us. Just look after yourself and know that we'll miss you."

She let go looking him in the eyes giving him a watery grin. Titania placed her forehead against his giving Natsu a flashback to the aftermath of the Tower of Heaven.

"Just come back to us better okay?" The Fire Dragon Slayer could never say no to Erza in this state, he wanted to say something, but the words would not come out of his mouth. The guilt he was feeling about making her cry was too intense, his promise to her always nagging the back of his mind.

"Erza…" It was a testament to just how much they had been through together that the Knight responded without a moments pause.

"Natsu, don't think for a second you broke your promise. You've saved us so many times that you need to think of yourself once in a while." Finally regaining his smile, even if it was tainted with sadness, Natsu gave the Scarlet Knight a nod in both agreement and thanks. Smiling back as she patted his check, Erza moved aside as Mira came forward from behind the bar to say goodbye.

"Hey Natsu." The barmaid said with a smile that just failed to reach her eyes. The Fire Dragon Slayer picked up on it immediately. Moving slightly closer, he called out to his old friend gently.

"Mira?"

This was enough for the floodgates to open. Mira put her head in her hands and let the tears flow as she let loose her turbulent emotions in front of the entire guild. Everyone stood starring with no clue what to do, one of the lights of the guild was crying her heart out and they felt powerless to stop it. The Barmaid finally got some control over her emotions before looking up at Natsu with her watery blue eyes.

"I'm sorry Natsu. I know it's not forever but is feels like the time when we thought we lost Lisanna all over again, it's like I'm losing another member of my family. You've done so much for us; you even helped bring Lisanna back home to us. I know it's selfish but I don't want you to leave." There was only one thing Natsu could do. He close the distance between them, gathering her up in his arms along the way and let her cry on his chest as hoped the embrace brought her some form of comfort.

They stayed that way for what felt like an age, however it was about minute later when the other two Strauss siblings moved forward. The Animal Take-over mage gently unwrapped her sister from her childhood best friend, before guiding her to her brother who quickly hugged her, for once refraining from saying anything about men. He gave Natsu a sad smile as he ushered his sister away from the eyes of the guild. Lisanna turned back to Natsu, pulling him into a hug of her own before whispering in his ear.

"Look after yourself Natsu! Come back to us soon." Giving him one last squeeze, she let go quickly leaving to join her siblings, only just managing to keep her emotions in check. The Fire Dragon Slayer's eyes did not leave the Strauss Siblings until a small hand gently found its way into his spinning him around gently.

He came face to face with the person he had been dreading the most, the person he most wanted to protect from his decision. He was faced with Wendy.

"Natsu-nii?"All he could do was stare into the heartbroken but still smiling face of the Sky Maiden who had tears streaming down her cheeks, eroding into his very core. He would probably never forget the face that he saw in the one he viewed as a sister. Crouching to her level he opened his arms and waited.

In record time, the hurting girl let out a shuddering sob and charged straight into him burying her face in his neck as she let her sadness take over. He tried to hold it together, bur seeing his little sister like this broke him harder than he ever could have expected. Digging his face into the top of her head, Natsu began to cry quietly, letting everything he was bottling out at last.

"Please come back soon! Please! I don't want you to forget about me!" Gripping Wendy tighter, Natsu made an instant reply.

"I'll be back for you soon. I'll miss you too much to stay away for too long. I'll never leave you Wendy! I'll always come when you need me, and remember, you're always welcome to come stay with me if you ever want to visit Sabre." Letting go, Wendy looked at him with her innocent eyes and tried to give a smile, failing due to the intensity of her feelings. Natsu put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a quick smile which finally triggered a smile from her.

Salamander." The Fire Dragon Slayer looked over to his iron counterpart who had silently approached, Levy following not too far behind.

"Don't worry we'll look after her, won't we shrimp?" Gajeel gave a look to the Solid Script age, who despite struggling with the emotionally-charged situation managed a winning smile before responding.

"Yeah! Don't worry Natsu, we've got this!" Her voice was croaky but she managed it without bursting into tears. Natsu gave a firm nod of thanks to them both before finally looking around the guild for the last time in what was an unforeseeable future.

"Well it's time! Try not to miss me too much guys." With a rather tainted signature fanged grin, Fairy Tail's original Dragon Slayer made his way towards the doors, not looking back in case it proved too mice, however Erza's voice stopped him short one last time.

"Natsu!" Slowly turning, the Fire Dragon Slayer was hit with something that gave him such warmth on what was turning into such a cold day. The entire guild was stood, fingers in the air, making sure he knew they were always looking his way.

He saw Cana, drinking a toast to her friend in a salute for his departure. Macao and Wakaba were giving him looks of pride while Romeo had tears in his eyes now that his idol was leaving. Even Laxus was there; his usual uncaring face showing the slightest bit of sadness at loosing someone he considered a friend. The Thunder God Tribe also paid their respects, following the example that their leader set for them. Even Kinana and Laki were supporting him both giving warm smiles, hoping their separate messages were getting through. All the members of Fairy Tail stood united for their member who arguably had the biggest heart out of all of them.

Yet there was one miss that Natsu instantly picked up on. Lucy sat in the corner of the hall, refusing to look in his direction, her face showing anger, confusion and betrayal. The one goodbye that would have sent him on his way with hope for the future was cruelly snatched away from his reach. Turning to leave, a single tear fell from his eye joining the thousands he had cried for her as his Fairy Tail journey came to a temporary end.

Walking outside, Natsu closed his eyes taking in the late morning sun. The day was finally beginning to warm up, even if it made no difference to him, he enjoyed the happiness that seemed to come with it. How it seemed to cheer the sadness in everyone as they laughed along with their friends and family.

Yet despite this atmosphere he just could not find the will to perk up. He had just left his family behind and the woman he loved did not even acknowledge the fact that he was leaving. He knew that he had to do this to get over Lucy but he could not stop the feelings of loneliness sneaking its way back to him. However a soft voice called out to him, snapping him out of thoughts.

"Natsu-sama, are you okay?" Yukino was standing beside him, a look of concern on her face as she seemed anxious to check on her friend. The Fire Dragon Slayer gave her a sad smile, not caring that the state he was in at the moment.

"I'll be fine eventually; I just need a little bit of time. Yukino nodded and gave him a small smile before reassuring him.

"I understand Natsu-sama, take as long as you need." The Fire Dragon Slayer gave her a small nod before looking around and realising that Minerva, Frosch and Rouge were not there. Looking back with a confused look that the Celestial mage did not pick up on straight away, however as she looked around she realised what had got him puzzled.

"They've gone ahead, I think Rouge-sama is trying to find you a place to stay and Minerva-sama wants to get started on running the guild, she really wants to do a good job. That leaves me to help you out and take you back to Sabretooth. I hope that is okay with you Natsu-sama.

Yukino broke their eye contact to look at the floor for a while, although she had gotten a lot better with her confidence due to Sabretooth's new policy of a family type of guild, the problem still came up quite often. She was still bad luck in her own eyes and she figured that she would carry the stigma forever. She slightly gasped in surprise as two rough hands, gently grasped her shoulders, looking up she came face-to-face with a disapproving Natsu.

"Natsu-sama?" Her brain went into overdrive; did he think she was weak? A burden that he had to put up with? One of her first friends and she already blew it, she was already convinced that he hated her. Looking away from him in shame, Yukino felt the hands on her shoulders grip slight tighter, drawing her attention back to his stern expression.

"Yukino, it would be awesome to have you help me. You're always welcome to talk to me; you're a great friend after all! You shouldn't doubt yourself so much." The Celestial mage gained a blush at the praise she was given. Not trusting her voice to stay stable at that particular moment, she gave Natsu a small smile causing said Fire mage to spring open his customary fanged grin in response. After a moment of the two smiling at each other, Natsu realised they had been stood there a while without doing anything.

"Oh yeah I need to go pack! Come on Yukino, you can come see my home!" With an excited look that broke apart the bleakness he had grown used to, the Fire mage charged away heading for home leaving a startled Celestial mage behind. Smiling to herself, the Sabre mage whispered to no one in particular.

"Lucy-sama was right, he does know what to say." With this said to the sky, Yukino hurried off in the direction a certain Pink-haired teen sprinted off in, intent on catching him up.

Eventually Yukino came upon a secluded house on the edge of the woods. Taking a moment to read the sign that said 'Natsu and Happy' bought a serene smile to the White-haired girls face. She found it quite endearing that these two troublemakers had their own bungalow away from Fairy Tail and Magnolia. It was strange to think that the energetic Dragon Slayer could live in such a peaceful place, so shut off from the hustle and bustle of the city. It probably stemmed from his time in the wild with Igneel.

Dragging herself from her thoughts, the Celestial mage walked up the path to find an open door. Intrigue soon pulled at her as she entered the house only to find Natsu was stood transfixed, starring about his home, eyes sad with unknown pain.

"Just realised how much I'm gonna miss this place." His voice seemed to barely be above a whisper as he realised he was leaving his home, a place he had come to love in the years he had been there.

"It's okay Natsu-sama, it's not for forever. You'll be back soon." He smiled at Yukino's attempt to cheer him up, she was right after all, he would be back.

"Thanks, I better go pack. Make yourself at home and look around!" With that, the Fire Dragon Slayer ambled off to what Yukino imagined was his room to collect his clothes, leaving the young woman alone to wonder around his house for a while. It did not take long for her to find the crowning achievement of Natsu's home.

She gazed at the wall of memories in curiosity and slight amazement. There were moments with everyone from Fairy Tail on display. There were pictures of the many parties that had gone on around the guild as well as some embarrassing photos of a few members who were too drunk to remember the night, different fights with Erza and Gray (that Reedus had been kind enough to draw and give away) littered the wall alongside old jobs that he had completed by himself as well as with Team Natsu. They were all pinned, interspersed with notes about people and locations. There was even a maid costume in the corner.

Yukino was not sure what to make of Natsu owning a maid costume. Deciding that it warranted further investigation, she leaned over to see if she could find out why it was kept in her friend's house. It turned out to be a memento from his first job with Lucy; she found herself smiling at the relationship that the two had. Lucy must have meant a lot to Natsu if he kept such an easily construed item in his house.

However the smile soon darkened as her face took on a frown. Yukino was a clever person and it did not take her long to work things out in her mind. Not only was Lucy sat away from Team Natsu, all of which she considered family, but Natsu himself seemed to be quite down to the point of near depression, to such a personal low point he left the guild he considered his home for the foreseeable future. Something felt very strange about the whole situation, had something happened between the two?

As she continued to ponder on the possible events that had happened around Fairy Tail, Natsu strode back into the room with a bag full of things, ranging from his clothes to the money he had managed to save from his adventures despite the often destructive occurrences. As a result it was not a great amount but it was enough to get by on for the time being. He glanced over to the Silver-haired mage to see what she was up to. She appeared to be deep in thought with a frown marring her usually pretty face. Worry began to gnaw at the Dragon Slayer. Was she okay? What had caused her to look so emotional? In typical Natsu fashion, he decided that bluntly asking was the best thing to do.

"Hey Yukino are you okay? You seem really out of it?" The Celestial mage jumped as her friends voice got through to her. Putting on a smile so he would feel more at ease, the Sabre mage turned to the Dragon Slayer intent on hiding her motives for the time being.

"I'm fine thank you for asking Natsu-sama, I was just thinking, nothing for you to worry about." Luckily for her Natsu seemed to buy this without any further prodding.

"Okay, as long as you're fine so am I!" Her smile was genuine this time. Only Natsu could only be okay if his friends were okay as well, however she still wanted to know what had happened between the two best friends and if her assumptions were correct. She classed them both as dear friends and wanted to help in any way she could.

"Natsu-sama, is that maid outfit from your first job with Lucy-sama? Can you tell me about it please? It would be nice to hear about your adventures." Natsu immediately seemed to freeze up at the mention of himself and Lucy in the same sentence. He turned so his face was hidden from her, yet he was not fast enough. She caught a glimmer of heartbreak in his eyes before he could hide it.

' _Why is Natsu-sama heartbroken? What could have happened that-'_ Yukino's mind faltered as the answer became so blatantly obvious, she had to stop herself from slapping a hand to her forehead. It was Lucy and Sting, how had she not realised it before? Of course he was going to be upset about them, he probably had feelings for her and now she was gone, out of his reach for what could be forever. No wonder he was getting away from her for the time being.

Guilt began to spring into her wakefulness, she had just reminded him of his pain and it was obviously still fresh. She had never meant to hurt Natsu; she just wanted to help her friends. But she had done it again, brought pain and misfortune on someone she held in such high regard. A frown soon graced her face, however before she could say another word, Natsu spoke to answer her questions from earlier.

"Maybe later, not now though, sorry Yukino." His grin was obviously forced, his eyes showing the pain he was feeling, despite his best efforts. The guilt intensified as the Celestial mage looked at his broken self. Her eyes again found her feet as the shame began to ravage her self-confidence.

"I'm sorry Natsu-sama, I shouldn't have said anything." She did not have the courage to look up at him, even when she heard him moving towards her. However she was forced to glance up when two strong arms wrapped around her tightly, pulling her into a comforting embrace. She could not stop herself from taking refuge in the warmth that was being freely given to her. Without her usual hesitation, she wrapped her own arms around him, only slightly embarrassed at the gentleness that was being shown. It went unsaid that Natsu needed that hug just as much as Yukino did.

"I thought I told you not to doubt yourself anymore. It takes more than a question to beat me!" She could not stop the giggle that came out after the more childish tone he used for the later part of his short speech. Giving him a squeeze, Yukino let go and moved back to see that Natsu looked like he had recovered slightly from the shock of his feelings.

His fanged grin was back and his body language seemed a lot more alert, yet it was still not back to the levels it should have been. It just lacked a bit of that usual excitement and energy that seemed to roll of him in plentiful amounts. She did not know why but the young woman was determined to help him get back to his former glory.

"Thank you Natsu-sama! I feel a lot better now. Are you packed and ready to go?" She inquired with a bow, sure to never forget her manners. The Dragon Slayer gave her a smile and a nod before turning to face his home for what would be the last time in a long while.

Seeing the pensive look on her friends face, Yukino was quick to try and sooth him.

"Don't worry Natsu-sama, I know you'll miss everyone at Fairy Tail but there are plenty of people in Sabretooth who can make you feel at home. Rouge-sama will be there and so will I!" Her conviction seemed to give him a bit more confidence as she nodded once to her with a sad smile. Taking one last look around for the time being, Natsu ushered Yukino out of his house, closing the door on his home for the last time in a while, leaving an empty spot in his heart.

* * *

The sun beat down on the now empty house; although the star was usually considered a blessing no one was there to see its splendour. Its owners were spread out across the country as they went their separate ways for a time. It was if there was an enchantment on the house as even the creatures of the forest seemed to have some sort of will to stay away, leaving an empty silence that stubbornly stayed, upsetting the beautiful balance into a slightly tainted visage as the tone of the atmosphere changed from homely to seclusion.

The clearing was left with not a single sound, not even the usual gushing of the nearby river was heard today, the forest was lamenting the fact one of its children had left, even the scent in the air lost its crispness, favouring a more polluted outputting. A picturesque scene that would be slightly darkened for as long as it took the prodigal son to return and restore it back to its glory.

* * *

Natsu and Yukino had walked in companionable silence for the last couple of minutes, neither one finding the need to talk to the other as they were both enjoying the quiet lost in each of their own separate thoughts.

Natsu was of course thinking about Fairy Tail and Sabretooth and what his future would now hold. Would he be able to see his friends and family regularly? Would his relationship with Lucy ever be repaired? Would the rest of the tigers accept him after what he did to them in the Grand Magic Games? All these thoughts ran through his head mind at a rapid pace, no answer being compassionate and making its presence known.

Yukino's thoughts were a lot brighter in comparison. She was thinking how great it was that one of the few people who were generally nice to her and meant it, was coming to join her in the guild. Of course she would miss Sting, he was her friend after all, but she could not wait to see what kind of adventures herself and the Natsu could go on, only if he wanted her around though. She sincerely hoped he did. More thoughts about the Fire Dragon Slayer ran through her head however her thoughts kept going back to one event. What he did for her when they first met.

"Natsu-sama, have I ever said thank you for what you did for me?" Natsu gave her a confused look, not knowing what she meant. Deciding to clarify for the confused Fire mage, Yukino carried on with her train of thought.

"You apologised for jumping to conclusions when I first met you. You invaded my old guild for me, just to tell them to treat me and other members better. You even rescued me from jail! Even though Lucy-sama was there as well you didn't forget about me and came for me too. You made me feel like I was worth something. I'm slowly becoming more and more confident in myself and so again I just want to say thank you. Thank you Natsu-sama! Thank you for everything you've done for me!"

Natsu looked away, his hand going to the back of his head and rubbing while a sheepish look took over his face.

"When you say it like that it sounds awesome, but I was just doing what I thought was right you know? You deserved someone to stand up for you for once!"

Yukino gave him a sweet smile in response, although it was not quite as shocking as it used to be, getting compliments and praise was still kind of new to her, so she appreciated that her friends spoke so highly of her.

"That's why I'm so thankful, out of everyone in the guild, only Rouge-sama disagreed with the way I was forced out and even then he didn't defend me to the master. Only you did Natsu-sama." Her smile never left her face as it lit up in happiness in a way that Natsu have never seen on her before.

It made him give a gently smile back.

However that smile soon turned into absolute horror when Natsu realised where they were heading.

"Oh Igneel please no, anything but the train!" The pair had made their way to the train station without the Dragon Slayer noticing, however it was unavoidable, and here he was once again facing down his enemy, the only nemesis he had yet to beat. The very thought of boarding was causing him to turn green and sway precariously on the spot. Luckily Yukino was a kind soul and steadied him, not letting him crumble into a puddle of sick Dragon Slayer.

"I know it's hard Natsu-sama, but can you make it for me? It would be great to show you around Sabretooth, and they'll be so excited to see you again. Poor Natsu made a mistake, one mistake that plagues a lot of men from all over the world. He looked directly into a pretty girls face and was met with his punishment. A pleading look he just could not refuse.

Not having the courage to say no to her, Natsu glumly nodded his head in consent causing a beaming smile to reappear on his friends face.

"Thank you Natsu-sama, I can't wait to have you in the guild!"

Natsu may have been marching towards hell, but at least he was going with a smile on his face.

* * *

 **Interesting fact, I actually find Natsu the most difficult character to write, hope I got him right in this chapter and in future :')**

 **Reviews -**

 **eroticlad11 - I personally think it's a very underrated ship and there needs to be more stories! Hopefully this fits the bill!**

 **Mike Uzumaki-Heartfilla - Thanks for the compliment! I can confirm that Ophiuchus will be in the story, and hopefully will be a lot more badass than the defeat to Kagura... There will also probably be some training between the two as well! Thanks for the advice!**

 **Doom Marine 54 - Well the future is still undecided...**

 **DdraigTrueEmperor9 - True words, none of us have the time to hate. Thank you for your opinion! It helps a lot when people give another point of view. I hopefully corrected Erza being a bit too rough and I hope this chapter delivered for you!**

 **Maalikdb - Here it is! Thanks for the kind words!**

 **ChaosDragonSlayer777 - They really are a great pairing! It's a pity there isn't more stories about them. Thanks a lot for the comments! Nice to know I got what I wanted across!**

 **SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan - Thanks you! Took longer then I wanted but here it is!**

 **Littlebrwk - She is indeed hopefully I got her character right! (or at least interesting!)**

 **Fairy Tail Shu Heller - Thanks for reviewing! I didn't really have the time to ask for any advice for this chapter, but If I get stuck I'll definitely give you a message! Talking ideas with someone is always a great help!**

 **CrAcKshipper8 - You knew my plan all along! Foiled again :') But thanks for the support! Hope this continues to be good!**

 **Meiyo12 - Don't really it's finished and it's here!**

 **Universe Slayer - I actually didn't intend for her to be, it just ended up like that as I was writing :')**

 **Lightningwolf19 - Thanks man, I am as well! Not many of them get finished which is why I'm determined to get to the end. Thanks for the support!**

 **Well that's the end of this chapter! Hope to see you in the next one! And one last time, thank you all for the feedback and support!**


	4. The New Guild

**Took a week of work this past week so I figured this was the perfect time to try and get a new chapter out for you and I actually managed it! I've shifted everything down to the bottom now so you can get to the story first and the reviews and analytics are all optional. So without further ado, here's the new chapter.**

* * *

 **The New Guild**

Had she been the cause of this? All she could find it in herself to accomplish was to stare at her clenched hand, letting the frustration and anger run through her. Was it her fault that he had just up and left the guild? Did she isolate her best friend to the point that he did not feel welcome in his home? To leave everything he held dear? There was no way it was her right? Especially not after everything they had been through.

Lucy looked around the guild trying to gauge the reactions people had to their Natsu leaving, hoping to see some understanding, sympathetic faces; however everyone seemed too intent on being lost in their own separate emotions to even notice that she needed someone to listen to her.

Even Sting was currently occupied, he was enjoying a conversation with Lector, filling him in on what had been going on in Fairy Tail for the last few weeks and he did not appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Getting to her feet, Lucy walked past her despairing guild and out of the front doors, making her way through the streets of Magnolia to a familiar bridge she seemed to cross every day. Staring out over the river The Celestial Spirit Mage watched as the sun shone down on the water creating a breath-taking shower of sparkles that flickered around in a similar style to the namesake of the guild she belonged to. Lucy however looked away from the scene, into the clear blue sky and asked the one question she desperately wanted to know the answer for.

"Why Natsu? Why did you do this?"

* * *

Yukino was slightly panicked as she looked down at the laid-out Natsu. The train ride had unfortunately not been kind on the poor Dragon Slayer who had been near comatose the entire journey, leaving a poor Celestial Mage to fret over his wellbeing. Certainly she had to deal with Sting and Rouge whenever they travelled together, but she had never seen a case quite so bad as the one her poor friend had.

Her worries were not alleviated by the fact that he had been lying, face first into the ground, unmoving for an unnerving amount of time. It did not take long for her to decide to help, after all her panicking was not aiding the obviously distressed Dragon Slayer. She approached her dying friend, placing a hand on his back before calling out to him in what she hoped was a comforting voice.

"Erm, Natsu-sama. Are you okay?" She immediately cursed inside; he obviously was far from okay. He was face down in the earth outside a train station, gaining strange looks from travellers and locals alike. Any normal person could clearly see he was not okay. She knew she needed to do something useful, yet her mind was unproductive and kept giving her nothing.

However it turned out that her worrying was for nothing as the Pink-haired Slayer started to stir before suddenly bolting to his knees, causing Yukino to squeal in surprise. Not caring about where he was, Natsu laughed out loud, attracting even more stares from the slightly concerned people who happened to be passing by.

"I'm free! I'm finally off that damn thing!" Pointedly ignoring the now startled looks from the audience he had managed to gather, Natsu hopped to his feet before spinning round to face his companion. In the blink of an eye the Fire Dragon Slayer had her in his arms lifting her from the ground and spinning her around on the spot.

"I'm free Yukino! I'm finally back on solid ground." He continued to laugh as he carried on twirling her. Getting swept along in the action, Yukino could not stop her own giggles from joining Natsu's merriment. In fact, she found that she was enjoying herself, a strange feeling of freedom and appreciation showing through ever so slightly.

Eventually the spinning died down and the Fire Mage lowered his friend down to the ground, both still smiling at each other softly. They stayed that way for a good while neither breaking eye-contact, intent on enjoying their happiness for just a while longer. Soon after, the Fire Dragon Slayer removed his arms from around her and looked away.

"Hey Yukino, do you know the way to the guild? I think I've forgotten." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, his eyes constantly looking around, not focusing on her.

Smiling sweetly at the Dragon Slayer, the Celestial Mage quickly put his anxieties to rest.

"Of course Natsu-sama, come on I'll show you the way." And with that the two began their walk to Sabretooth, Yukino brushing aside the brief flicker of warmth she had when her pink-haired friend spun her in his arms.

The two mages made excellent time cutting through the crowds of people, slowly meandering their way towards the centre of the city. Natsu ignoring all the new sights and smells the city offered, concentrating on the rather nerve-racking task of joining a new guild. It took them roughly an half an hour of travelling before the guild finally came into sight.

For a normal person the climb to the Sabretooth guild hall was a physically tough one, it stood proud an unmissable landmark in the city. The mountain it seemed to be on had a path winding up, leading to the entrance of the once number one guild. Just at a glance it was easy to tell this building represented what Sabre used to be, a guild above all where only the strong were welcome. Even the path was seen as a way to wheedle out the weak with the arduous climb.

Luckily, neither Natsu nor Yukino were weak and the climb was relatively easy for experienced mages like them, that did not mean entering the building was an easy task however, as the Fire Dragon Slayer found it. He froze outside the doors, an unfamiliar look of nervousness gracing his face. Sure he had been here before to visit, but not as a member, would they accept him? Would they let him join?

His thoughts were halted by a small hand, turning to face the owner he was met with Yukino, an encouraging smile on her lips, her eyes soft with understanding. Natsu starred back for a while, taking heart from her comforting aura.

"You helped me Natsu-sama, now it's time I helped you. I'll be right behind you, if you let me."

With a grateful nod of thanks and a small smile, Natsu once again faced off against the doors of the guild with a little of his old fire back. The Fire Dragon Slayer swung the doors open and strode in, Yukino following closely, not for one second leaving her friend alone.

The entire guild turned to see who had walked in the door and upon seeing Natsu; there was a multitude of reactions. Both Minerva and Rouge were smiling at him, happy that he had finally made it to the guild. Ogra, Rufus and Dobengal all looked intrigued at the Dragon Slayer, wondering in their minds why he was there instead of Sting. Some of the other members were happy to see him again, yet there some with looks of fear and nervousness. Fear because of his reputation, one that only grew when he single-handedly invaded Sabretooth in the Grand Magic Games, all in the name of Revenge for Yukino. Nervousness because they were sincerely hoping that he was not about to go overboard in their guild and rack up a huge amount of damage costs.

"Ah Natsu, it's good you're finally here!" Minerva said, making her way over to him in order to grab him and drag the unfortunate soul in front of the entire guild, intriguing the gathered mass to even greater heights. After they were both in position, Sabretooth's Lady turned to her guild so she could update them on the latest news from her group's trip to Fairy Tail.

"So I have a few announcements to make. If it wasn't obvious already, Sting has decided to take some time away from the Guild to spend time with Lucy in Fairy Tail." There was a smattering of murmurs at this; however the Territory Mage raised a gloved hand waiting until she regained the silence she had before. Checking to see if anyone was still talking and finding only quiet, Minerva continued on with her speech.

"As a result of this, Sting has asked that I be the temporary guild master, therefore as of right now, I will be running Sabretooth for a time."

This news did not seem to shock anyone. Their master had been absent for a while now and they knew how stubborn he could be. There was no way he would leave Lucy's side if he could help it. But that did not answer the question about Natsu. The Territory Mage seemed to read her guilds minds as she quickly went on to clarify the mystery.

"I can see you're all wondering what Natsu is doing here. As Yukino pointed out to me, with Sting gone and me being appointed as temporary master, we were effectively a mage down. As a result I offered our dragon here a temporary place in the guild to fill in the void. Luckily for us, he accepted the offer and we now have another Dragon Slayer to cause mayhem. However if he causes too much damage there will be… repercussions."

Natsu could only sweat nervously at the threatening smirk that was on Minerva's face. The rest of the guild however, began to approach Natsu, each person intrigued by their new temporary guild mate. They paused briefly as their current leader finished her speech.

"I expect you to all make him feel welcome, he is after all, a valuable ally and friend." This time the rest of the guild shivered as her eyes roamed over them all. No one missed the threat behind her words. Satisfied that she was finished, everyone continued on their path to the Fire Dragon Slayer in order to officially welcome him.

As the guild began to greet Natsu, Yukino moved behind her friend, hoping that her presence was enough to cheer him on. He seemed to notice her though, turning around and giving her his usual impressive grin before going back to the random conversation he was having.

It really made her ecstatic to see that her guild mates seemed to be accepting him, despite his animosity towards them in the past. Many were even smiling and laughing in their conversations with him. It turned out that despite their reservations, he would be a valuable member of the guild.

Yukino even swore she saw a relieved expression on the face of her friend, however it was gone a second later, Natsu determined to hide it from view. It looked like all his nervousness had been for nothing. She smiled to herself; she had been useful after all. Focusing back on her surroundings, she saw Ogra, Rufus, Dobengal and Rouge all approaching the Fire Dragon Slayer, looking intent on getting their greetings in.

"I have no memory of the guild ever being this excitable; let's hope that this will mean good things to come." Rufus said with a smile as he cast his gaze around the guild, taking in the buzz that had worked itself up. The others copied his movements, taking a quick peek around their home.

"I agree! You have brought something new to the guild and I'm more than happy you've joined us for now." Dobengal cheered, holding his hand out, a gesture Natsu wall too happy to return, grasping the Ninja's hand and shaking it firmly.

"Yeah, I think I need to sing to mark such an awesome occasion." With a welcome nod to Natsu, Ogra ran off, preparing to yell his new song, all while shouting about how his guild had yet another Slayer.

"I think it'd be wise if we go stop him, Dobengal, if you please." The aforementioned Ninja gave a quick nod to their new Dragon Slayer before joining Rufus in leaving to stop their friend from assaulting them with his music.

"Well Natsu it appears that you left quite an impression on everyone." Rouge said with a smirk as Yukino moved next to them. Looking at the Celestial Spirit Mage, the Shadow Dragon Slayer quickly finished his small speech.

"Just like we said he would, right Yukino?"

The white-haired mage nodded, a warm smile gracing her features. She turned to look at Natsu, noticing that he looked a lot more at ease than he was before, but there was something else. He looked a lot happier than he did when he was in Fairy Tail earlier.

' _I still don't know if what I figured out is the cause of your sadness Natsu-sama, but I swear I'll make you better if I can. I know you'd do the same for me!"_ Yukino thought to herself, a look of determination crossing her face as a new goal came to her mind.

Of course Sabre's Celestial Mage was no longer paying attention to her surroundings, a fact noticed by her two Dragon Slayer companions, particularly as she was starring directly at one as she lost herself in her mind. Both Rouge and Natsu gave each other concerned looks before the Shadow Dragon Slayer decided to see if their friend was okay.

"Hey, er Yukino? You've been starring at Natsu kind of weird for a while now."

Snapping back into reality, her cheeks reddening at an extraordinary rate upon realising what she was doing, Yukino began to stutter as her friends looked on in amusement.

"I…I…I uh." No matter how hard she tried, the words would not come to her. Her failure only made the men in front of her trade their amused smirks for fully-formed grins.

"Take your time and breathe, I'm sure it will come to you eventually." Rouge said, surprising everyone and even himself with the teasing.

"Rouge-sama!" Yukino exclaimed with a quite audible gasp. "You don't tease, why start now?" Unfortunately for her, the Shadow Dragon Slayer had a quick response to her question.

"I guess Natsu just brings out the lighter side in me." He said with a smirk and a quick glance at his fellow Dragon Slayer. Despite the fact that her friend seemed to be lightening up, thrilling her to no end, Yukino still looked away huffing a little at being the target of the teasing.

However a hand on her shoulder brought her gaze to the smiling face of Natsu, only this time instead of humour, there was a look of comfort waiting for her.

"We didn't mean anything by it Yukino, like you said, it was just teasing. We would never mean to upset you." Despite the words spoken in reassurance this did not help The Celestial Mage's situation. The care he was treating her with was something she was still not used to receiving. Luckily anymore embarrassment was spared as Minerva once again took centre stage, looking intent on saying her piece.

"In light of the fact we have a temporary new member and master." She paused for a second to bask in the knowledge that she was the temporary guild master. "I say we take inspiration from Fairy Tail and put our own twist on a celebration."

Everyone seemed to have the same brainwave at these words as they figured out what their Lady meant. Immediately the general buzz increased as everyone waited for the news they all wanted to hear. Minerva smirked at her guilds reaction, knowing she was about to give them exactly what they wanted.

"I think you all know, it's time for a pool party!"

It seemed to happen all at once, but all the guild members jumped up cheering as loudly as they could before sprinting off to the pool to begin the festivities.

Natsu just stood still debating in his mind whether or not to let the rest of Sabretooth know that Fairy Tail had a pool too and were known to know to throw the occasional party in it as well. Deciding it was best not to antagonise his new guild, he held his tongue, instead turning to face both Rouge and Yukino with a wide grin on his face.

"Come on! Let's go party!" Both his fellow Dragon Slayer and the Celestial Spirit Mage gave a smile and a nod at his words. They quickly dispersed, hoping to get their things quickly so they could get to the pool quicker.

Natsu had to admit he was loving this party. It appeared that Rufus and Dobengal had failed in their efforts to keep Ogra from a microphone as he had been shouting out songs for hours about how Sabre was the best guild in Fiore, making everyone around cringe at his performance. The rest of the guild were swimming around the pool generally having the time of their lives. Some were just floating, enjoying the late afternoon's sun, others were playing, splashing each other playfully, cooling each other off, warding against the disappearing heat. There were even one or two bathing in the sun rays, taking advantage of the fine weather.

Natsu himself was sitting in a corner of the pool, enjoying the atmosphere that the guild was portraying. He had joined in a few of the festivities; Dobengal had challenged him to a water fight as revenge for the beating he gave him during the Grand Magic Games. The poor Ninja lost spectacularly, but he had at least given a good effort. The Fire Dragon Slayer smiled to himself as he had his first real happy memory in Sabretooth.

"What are you doing on the side-lines? Usually you'd be the centre creating chaos." Natsu looked over at Rouge who had swam over while he was deep in thought, raising his hand to scratch at the back of his head as he considered his counterpart's question.

"Just relaxing, been a busy day is all." He gave Rouge a shy smile, hoping his tiredness would not appear rude, luckily his friend seemed to pick up on his weariness, and the two sat quietly for a few seconds, watching the rest of Sabretooth party on in celebration of their new member. Eventually the Shadow Dragon Slayer grew restless; turning to his fiery counterpart he decided to carry on their conversation.

"So Natsu, are you enjoying the guild so far?"

The Fire Dragon Slayer carefully considered his words as he watched the Sabres frolic around by the water, the sun beginning to start its descent in the background, causing the pool to sparkle relaxing Natsu as he leaned back carefully against the edge.

"It's been great so far, it's like Fairy Tail but it still has differences. There's still parties going on but everything is more relaxed, I like it. I'll definitely have to start some guild brawls though, test out everyone's strength." The Fire Dragon Slayer grew a slightly deranged smile as he said the last part, worrying Rouge as he thought of the potential destruction, and then the reaction of a certain Territory Mage if the cost was high.

"Now now Natsu, there's no need to do that. You've already proven yourself to be one of the strongest in Fiore, let alone our guild. Besides Minerva…" Both mages began to sweat profusely at the thought of an antagonised, sadistic Minerva.

"Ah, point taken. Think I'll be passing up on the brawl idea for now." He could not stop the slight shiver that traversed its way up his body at the thought of what the Territory Mage could do to him. She surpassed even Erza when it came to being a sadist, after all he was half sure that Erza did not approve of torture while his current guild master…

As soon as these thoughts left his mind, Natsu sensed a menacing presence behind him. Both himself and Rouge turned slowly coming face to face with a bikini-clad Minerva. While most men would enjoy having such a beautiful looking woman stood in front of them in such wear, the two Dragon Slayers wanted to be anywhere else.

Her eyes were narrowed, staring at them unblinking as if daring them to put a toe out of line. Her smirk from earlier was once again present, giving off a rather off-putting aura. It was as if she was a predator and she had finally found her prey.

"I thought I heard a mention of brawling, but I must have been mistaken, isn't that right Natsu-kun?" Said Slayer had learned a lot of things from Mira. One of the most prominent being the sweeter the tone of voice, the higher the chances that you will soon be facing total annihilation and somehow, the current leader of Sabre had even surpassed Mira in how sickly her voice sounded.

"N…No marm!" No brawls here, just having a nice chat, as we Dragon Slayers are often prone to do." The son of Igneel said, idly wondering when he managed to get so eloquent. Besides him Rouge nodded quickly, appearing to not be in any better shape, as sweat continued to fall while he seemed to struggle to find the ability of speech.

"Good! I'd hate to have to make an example of our newest member. Remember what I said earlier… Repercussions!" Minerva gave him one more threatening stare before turning around to look at Rouge.

"That goes for you too; I don't want to see a toe out of line!" With her warning given, the Territory Mage departed leaving behind two terrified Dragon Slayers.

"Hey Rouge?"

"Yeah?"

"I could totally take her in a fight right?" The Shadow Dragon Slayer looked over at his friend who appeared to still be shaken at the threats to his wellbeing.

"I think you could." Despite the fact he was not entirely truthful, he had to admit he was glad to see the usual grin back on his face. Relaxing into the water, Rouge's eyes drifted over to his numerous guild mates, finding a rare moment of peace. That was until his eyes landed on Yukino. He could not stop the sigh of slight sadness from escaping from his lips.

This of course drew the attention of his fiery companion who gave him a look of confusion before following his downtrodden gaze, landing on the Celestial Spirit Mage, furthering his already sizeable bewilderment.

"Hey Rouge, why are you staring at Yukino, are you okay?" The Shadow Dragon Slayers face noticeably contorted into a mixture of sadness and guilt at Natsu's voice. He refused to look at his friend for a while, peering off into the distance, hoping he would find a way to phrase his problems.

"I still feel guilty about what we did to her back then." His eyes remained unfocused as he became lost in his memories from his first encounter with his friend and all through the Games that were happening at the time. "I know she's forgiven us but I can't quite forgive myself. I wanted to stick up for her but I didn't. It's always going to be one of my biggest regrets."

All was quiet for a time as both Dragon Slayers looked straight ahead, both lost in their own separate thoughts. It was after a few minutes of silence that Natsu finally broke the lull.

"Rouge." The Shadow Dragon Slayer gave a nod that his friend managed to catch in his peripheral. "Yukino will tell you the same thing but you need to stop beating yourself up about it. Not only was your master a right bastard to her, but you were the only one to question the decision. You were already on the right path. The fact that you're still hurting now proves how far you've come. You shouldn't feel guilty when you did nothing wrong."

The two again fell into silence for a while as Rouge took in the encouragement the older Dragon Slayer offered.

"Thank you Natsu, I may never quite get over it but it's good to hear that I'm doing something right." They both smiled at each other pleased about the outcome of the conversation; however Rouge was not quite finished.

"There is another thing I'm thankful to you for, and that's the effect you've had on this guild. You and all of Fairy Tail helped make this place so much better, we're a family now. We wouldn't be like this if it wasn't for you. You personally did so much. You showed me that wanting friends was a good thing, that being a part of a family is better than being alone."

Rouge smiled to himself as he compared the guild to what it was like before Fairy Tail had intervened. It had come such a long way and he could not stop himself from basking in the pride he was feeling. It had truly become what he had always wanted. It now had the distinct feeling of home.

Natsu himself was smiling to the sky at Rouge's words, his casual air back again as he began to relax into the water.

"You don't have to say thank you Rouge, everyone deserves to have a family, to have a special place that they can call home. That bastard of a guild master was holding you back, yours and Stings fight against him was awesome by the way."

Rouge's small smile remained at the praise that his friend was giving. Jiemma may have formed a strong guild, but it had been an emotionally empty place, filled with mindless soldiers expected to do their superiors bidding. It had allowed only ego and malice to build, a deadly combination in the hands of such powerful mages. Before he could slip anymore into dire thoughts, Natsu's voice broke through the haze of his mind.

"Do you know that last request that the future you asked for?" Rouge shook his head in response, intrigued at what his future self could possibly request from the man who defeated him. "He asked me to save Frosch's life."

That answer completely floored the Shadow Dragon Slayer. Frosch had been in danger and he had no clue? His eyes immediately found his Exceed and stuck to the feline, who seemed to be having too much fun playing with Yukino to notice the intense stare of its best friend.

Seeing the reaction of his fellow Slayer, Natsu chuckled slightly at his behaviour before reaching a calming hand onto his shoulder.

"Don't worry we saved both Frosch and yourself from your fates in the future." Rouge could only breathe a sigh of relief at these words knowing that his constant companion was safe. Turning to smile at the Fire Dragon Slayer, Rouge was met by Natsu's signature fanged grin.

"Even before the future you was defeated, his thoughts were on his fallen friend. My point is Rouge, even when you went down the wrong path you only wanted your friend back. There has always been goodness in you. You just need to recognise it more."

"Frosch thinks so too."

Both the Dragon Slayers looked over in surprise at Frosch and Yukino, who had made their way over while the two friends had been engrossed in their conversation.

"He's right Rouge-sama, you put yourself down too much."

The Shadow Dragon looked down, his eyes refusing to meet any of his friend's as he thought of a way to answer Sabre's Celestial Mage.

"You weren't supposed to hear that."

"But I did Rouge-sama, and as you're friend I can tell you when you're being ridiculous. You've always been a good person. You just need to believe in yourself like we do."

As Frosch moved into his arms to get comfortable, Rouge looked at both Natsu and Yukino with a sincere smile, filled with as much gratitude as he possibly could. They both sent one back, hoping that their message was finally going through to their struggling friend.

"If I may weigh in as well." All eyes turned to Minerva who had strolled over after catching parts of the conversation, everyone wondering what the Territory Mage wanted to add.

"Rouge, many people think that it was Erza who solely helped me to truly embrace who I am but they are wrong. While she certainly helped a great deal, I recall two mages walking into a guild infested with demons with the sole objective of bringing their friend back home, even defeating her abusive father to get to her."

After finishing her small speech, Minerva slipped into the pool, wadding over to the Shadow Dragon Slayer before wrapping her arms around him and drawing him in for a hug, eliciting a gasp from the two other mages who were currently watching.

"A bad person would never do the things you've done for me, thank you for the part you played." Rouge smiled at the temporary guild master, muttering platitudes in order to get past his own awkwardness. Suddenly Minerva pulled back, glaring at each of the mages in turn, silently terrifying all three.

"Of course no one saw this happen right?" Her eyes narrowed, daring them to disobey her disguised order.

"Aye sir!" Natsu squeaked as his two friends quickly nodded their heads, anxious not to get on their Lady's bad side. Smirking with satisfaction, Minerva turned to their new member to deliver a new order.

"Now that that's out of the way, how about we all relax. Natsu if you'll do the honours." It took a while for the Fire Dragon Slayer to realise what was being asked of him, however when he caught on, Natsu could not stop his usual grin from finding its way onto his lips.

"I'm fired up!" With his catchphrase said, Natsu lit his hands ablaze before plunging them into the water, changing the temperature and creating an improvised hot tub.

This gained cheers from the Sabre mages as they all made their way into the water in order to take advantage of the rare gift their newest member had given to them. Minerva smirked at Natsu, patting him on the head gently.

"Good dragon, we're well on our way to getting you tame." Everyone shared a good laugh at Natsu's expense as the Fire Dragon Slayer mumbled out a sentence under his breath, causing even more hilarity to spread amongst his new friends.

* * *

"Here we are Natsu, your temporary home." The Fire Mage hated to admit it, but it was massive step up from his currently unused home back in the outskirts of Magnolia. He was currently standing in his new living room with Rouge, Yukino and Frosch, taking in his new spacious home. Paintings hung from the walls, giving an aura of peace and tranquillity not often associated with the Dragon Slayer. His furniture seemed to be professionally and lovingly crafted, the care and dedication clear in every piece. He was now also the proud owner of two sofas as well as two tables. One a medium sized coffee table that stood with the two sofas completing the relaxing feel, while the other was a similarly sized dining table located off to the side, within an easy distance of the kitchen.

Even his bedroom was better. A queen sized bed was waiting for him with his own en-suite (It was similar to his main bathroom. Both sharing a large shower and bath combination, while having the rest of the basics in the form of a sink, toilet and mirror.) He even had another bedroom to compliment the first; it was obvious that this flat had been designed to have the occasional guest every now and then. Rouge had really outdone himself. Turning to his fellow Dragon Slayer, Natsu was quick to thank him for going far beyond expectations for him causing his friend to shrug off his words.

"It's the least I could have done for you Natsu; I know you would have gone further if our roles had been reversed." The Fire Mage gave an embarrassed nod in thanks, his hand rising to scratch the back of his head. Beckoning his guests to take a seat, Natsu made his way over to one of the sofas before collapsing into the comfort it was freely offering. Looking up he was met by a worried look from Yukino and an amused one from Rouge who had both sat on the other sofa while Frosch had once again snuggled into his best friend's lap. Opening his mouth to give them some reassurance, a yawn escaped instead, silencing what he was going to say, getting chuckles from all his guests.

"It has been quite a busy day hasn't it?" Rouge's smirk had returned at his expense but he could not deny that his friend was right. Although the party had not gone on into the early hours of the morning like it would have had in Fairy Tail, it had still been an exhausting event for the Dragon Slayer. Everyone had wanted to speak to him, to welcome him to the guild and get to know him. Not to mention the emotionally charged goodbye he gave to his friends that morning, it was no surprise he was both emotionally and physically drained.

That did not mean that the party was not lot of fun. The water fights had been his favourite part. He had bravely fought off any comers, even defeating Rufus and Ogra before finally being defeated by Minerva and surprisingly Yukino. The Territory Mage had used her as a human shield putting her in-between herself and Natsu. He immediately stopped, unwilling to drag the Celestial Mage into the fight, only for Minerva to use her magic to dump a small tsunamis worth of water on his head, ending the fight much to his chagrin.

Still the day had been worth the exhaustion, he was pleased to know that he fit in with his new guild, his earlier doubts and fears vanishing as the day wore on. He had managed to strengthen bonds and form new ones. Natsu was ready to see what the rest of his recovery had in store for him.

"Natsu-sama?" Yukino's soft voice dragged him out of his thoughts, giving her his full attention he noticed she almost seemed nervous about talking with him. Turning to Rouge for answers, the Fire Dragon Slayer saw that his friend's attention was also on the Spirit Mage, giving her his own questioning look. She seemed to notice the attention she was receiving, giving the Shadow Dragon Slayer a firm, assured nod before turning her gaze back to Natsu as she continued to talk with him.

"I have a question to ask, but please don't feel like you have to answer, it's perfectly fine if you want to keep it to yourself." This got his attention. He started to feel a little unsure of himself as he awkwardly shifted in his seat as he tried to get comfortable again. Despite this he beckoned Yukino on to finish; ignoring the fact his discomfort seemed to have spread to everyone in the room.

Steeling herself so she would not back down, the Celestial Mage finished what she had started.

"Natsu-sama, are you upset because of Lucy and Sting?"

Silence.

Natsu appeared to be frozen in place, eyes widening before flittering around the room, looking anywhere else but at his guests, leaving Yukino in a state of panic. She had pushed him too far; he was never going to talk to her again. Not being able to stand the silence, the Celestial Mage blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.

"Remember Natsu-sama, you don't have to answer if you don't want to!" The Dragon seemed to miss her desperate attempt to fix what had been said, his eyes stopping their frantic dance to land unmoving in his lap. Another uncomfortable silence fell, lasting for a few minutes. Yukino with sagging shoulders slowly stood from her seat, not having the confidence to look at her friend, she hugged herself before starting to speak.

"I'm sorry Natsu-sama I should never have pried, I'll just go. Have a good night Rouge-sama." She began to move toward the door, intent on leaving as soon as possible to reduce the chance of her bursting into tears. As her hand grasped the handle of the door, another foreign hand made its way onto her shoulder, squeezing gently to get her attention. Turning, she found a teary-eyed Fire Dragon Slayer desperately holding onto her.

"Please stay."

She would never leave a friend in need, especially when he had showed her such kindness. Feeling all her self-loathing leave, Yukino moved back to her seat, much to the relief of the upset Natsu and the uncomfortable looking Rouge. After making sure that his guest knew she was still welcome, the host made his way back to his own seat before once again collapsing into its comfort yet again. Deciding he needed to address what had happened, his focus switched to Yukino.

"How did you find out?"

His tone was soft; there was no anger there, just a sense of defeat. He was not accusing her yet but he still had a sense of morbid intrigue as to how she had figured out his secret.

"You gave me a few clues Natsu-sama, the way Lucy was sat far away from you and your team. Your reaction when I asked about the maid outfit in your home and the fact you left Fairy Tail at all pointed to the fact that Lucy being with Sting was affecting you, it wasn't too difficult to work out. I'm sorry to bring it up just because I was curious."

Natsu however shook his head before giving Yukino a sad smile.

"You don't have to apologise Yukino, I know you didn't mean anything by it, you were just worried about your friends." The Celestial Mage gave him a soft smile and a nod, beckoning for him to continue. Taking a deep breath the Fire Dragon Slayer looked to both his friends watching him with rapt attention. Seeing as though he had a willing audience, Natsu began to speak of his experience.

"You remember how our fight with Tartaros ended?" Rouge took a shaky breath, remembering how the saga ended as Yukino looked on concerned about how serious both of her friends were. Although Rouge was usually stoic and serious, Natsu was the total opposite. Deciding it would be best to listen, the Celestial Spirit Mage relaxed into her seat as Natsu continued on with his story.

"After that, as you know, I went on my year long trip. Everyone assumed I had gone to train and while that was true I also went to sort out my feelings. As I got stronger, I tried to work out what I felt for Lucy. I was totally clueless." That got a smile from both of his guests.

"Luckily for me I bumped into Gildarts. He didn't just help me train but he helped me understand my feelings, even helped come to terms with Tartaros. He set me up to return back to the guild and I was more than happy to get back. I wanted to tell Lucy how I felt. I may have got a little side-tracked along the way…"

Both Yukino and Rouge stared blankly at him, both knowing full well that his 'little side-track' involved him crashing the Grand Magic Games, beating up the winners before fighting Avatar and helping to reform Fairy Tail. He even managed to put a burning Fairy Tail symbol on the side of Mercurius.

"After Fairy Tail came back I was ready to tell Lucy all about my feelings and my journey, how I'd finally figured out that I loved her but as I was building my confidence to go and take the plunge, Sting came." Despite their love for the White Dragon Slayer, Rouge and Yukino cringed when his name was spoken; already knowing what was coming for poor Natsu.

"She ran straight over to him and she completely forgot about me. She kissed him, laughed with him even spent all her free time with him. Something inside me shattered. I…I've never felt so broken in my entire life, not even when Igneel left." Both of the Sabre mages looked on sympathetically, letting their friend let all his pent up emotions out.

"I don't hold it against them; I mean what sort of friend would I be if I tried to break them up or if I confused Lucy by confessing? I wish them all the best but I keep asking myself why it was at my expense, if there was something wrong with me. Eventually these thoughts messed up my magic for a while, but Wendy helped me get it back." He smiled to himself when he remembered the conversation he had with his little sister on the previous evening.

"After that I was able to go back to the guild and fight again." His smile transformed into a wicked grin at the thought of one of his favourite activities. "It felt…right, getting my magic back into control, being able to fight Gray again. It felt as if some things hadn't changed." Even though it was such a Natsu thing to focus on, the Celestial Spirit Mage and the Shadow Dragon Slayer were smiling at the thought of their friend doing what he did best. Fight.

"That's when things got weird. After I kicked Gray's ass cause I'm obviously better, Sting challenged me to a fight too." This was met with eye rolls from his fellow mages; of course Sting would want a rematch with his rival. It appeared he was still striving to prove that he was equal to, and could one day surpass, his idol.

"Obviously I wasn't going to say no, so we fought. He actually made me activate my Lightning Flame Dragon mode; he'd definitely gotten stronger since our last fight. Anyway I was winning and the fight was coming to an end, thinking I'd end it quickly I charged up my last attack, but before I could use it Lucy jumped between us to stop me. She, she said she didn't know if she could trust me anymore."

Both Yukino and Rouge watched as absolute dejection took over Natsu, he had slumped back into his seat, refusing to look at either of them while his usual smile was replaced with a heart-breaking frown. Before today neither would have thought the Fire Dragon Slayer was capable of being so broken, yet the proof that even the toughest people could fall was right in front of them.

Natsu had also inadvertently answered some questions that resided in his fellow mage's minds. Both had wondered why the atmosphere was so hushed when they had arrived at Fairy Tail earlier, and now they knew the full reasoning.

"It turned out Sting was alright after a quick trip to the infirmary, but Lucy was avoiding me so we never got a chance to talk about the fight. That's when you came in to get Sting back but ended up offering me a place in Sabretooth instead." This was the part both had been waiting to hear, they were finally going to be told why Natsu decided to join.

"I was going to say no at first, everyone was trying to help me, showing me they all cared. But the one person I wanted to care more than anything didn't spare me a second thought. When everyone jumped up to try and keep me in the guild, Lucy did nothing to stop me leaving. Then it clicked. If I stayed here looking for her approval, looking for anything from her, I would always hurt. I'd probably always be down and I'd never get better. So I accepted to escape that fate and here I am."

It was as Yukino had thought; Natsu needed to leave as seeing Lucy with someone else, especially a friend, had cut him deeply. So deeply, he ran away from his home headfirst into the unknown. She looked over to Rouge to see him giving their friend a look of pained sympathy. Neither knew what to say. They had both encouraged and celebrated their friend's relationship, enjoying seeing them both so content in their love. The thought of what would happen to Natsu never so much as crossed their minds.

"I…I don't hold anything against Sting, he just happened to like the same girl I did and took his chance to be happy. But am I a bad person for wishing that he didn't? For wishing that he had never met Lucy while I finally understood what I was feeling and got her instead? Don't I deserve to be happy as well?"

Rouge looked ready with an answer however Yukino did something unexpected. She cut across the Shadow Dragon Slayer before he could even speak, answering her friend with a fiery passion that would have made him proud under any other circumstance.

"No Natsu-sama, that doesn't make you a bad person. I guarantee that everyone would ask those kinds of questions if they were in your positon. And of course you deserve to be happy! Even if I spent a full day thinking I'd struggle to think of someone who deserves happiness more than you. But as painful as it is to think about Natsu-sama, maybe you weren't meant to be happy with Lucy-sama. Maybe you were meant to be happy with somebody else."

Rouge nodded his head in agreement, not finding the need to add anything to the encouraging message Yukino had given. Natsu himself seemed to be chewing over her words, taking comfort in the speech that was offered. He looked at both of them before breaking out into a small smile.

"Thanks guys, I think I needed to hear that." His thanks however brought a twinge of guilt from both of his guests. After a few moments of silence, it was Rouge who spoke, intent on saying what both he and Yukino were currently feeling.

"Natsu we have something we need to apologise for. We were both big supporters of Sting and Lucy's relationship, encouraging them to make it official and get together. We only wanted to do what was right for them, but we never imagined it would hurt you this much in the process. For that we are both truly sorry." They both hung their heads, upset at having aided in breaking the heart of a dear friend. However said friend was not about to let them wallow in their guilt for too long.

"What do you mean you're sorry? You did what any good friends would do and helped in any way you could. Besides you've probably done even more for me, supporting me when I switched guilds for the time being, finding me a place to live, and even now, giving me advice and listening to my problems. If anything I should be thanking you!"

They all smiled at each other, safe with the knowledge that they were still all there for one another. It was at this quiet moment when Rouge finally realised the time, midnight was gone and the early morning would soon be approaching.

"Well it's gotten quite late, I think we all need to head home so we can sleep and actually be functional tomorrow." With this all three of them stood up, Natsu preparing to see his friends out while Yukino made sure she had everything, especially her keys and coat, while Rouge made sure that the sleeping Frosch was comfortable in his arms. They both made their way over to the Fire Dragon Slayer he had opened the door for them with a smile. Yukino walked over to him before wrapping him inside of a hug.

"Remember Natsu-sama, I believe you'll find someone to be happy with, you're special! But if you ever get lonely or need to talk, don't hesitate to come see me." With one last encouraging smile, the Celestial Spirit Mage walked out of Natsu's new home, leaving only Rouge and his snoozing Exceed left.

The Shadow Dragon Slayer had put on his usual stoic features before he moved over to his friend in order to leave. However he stopped in the doorway before turning to give his fellow Slayer his goodbye for the night.

"Remember what Yukino said Natsu, It doesn't have to be Lucy you end up being happy with." The Shadow Dragon Slayer's eyes seemed to gain a slight glint as he glance over in the direction their Silver-haired guild mate had taken off in.

"You never know, that someone may just be under your very nose."

With that Rouge followed after Yukino into the night, leaving behind a confused Natsu to ponder at his words as he closed his door and began to prepare for his own sleep, hoping the morning would grant some understanding to Rouge's departing words.

* * *

 **So there we go, as you may have guessed this was more of a filler chapter, I originally thought I was going to struggle to get to 4,000 words then ended up writing over double that. I shouldn't doubt myself so much :'). I'm afraid it's getting harder to write this story, not because I don't have the drive to write but because my interest in Fairy Tail is waning, I don't really agree with the direction it's gone in (I may discuss this in a future Analyses section.) But anyway enough with the bleak stuff onto the reviews!**

 **Midnight Sin 009 - Let's be honest, as long as Natsu has his friends, he'll meet just about anything with a big smile! Thanks for the review!**

 **Animegamernerd15 - No problem! And thank you! Good to know I didn't mess it up :')**

 **DdraigTrueEmperor9 - I knew you'd struggle with this chapter xD But it's honestly how I'd feel Erza, Wendy and Mira would react if Natsu was to ever leave Fairy Tail. And I'm afraid not, while Minerva is another character to really needs more stories about her, I'm a single pairing author. Outside of Harems these characters don't really get any attention and I'm hoping to change that!**

 **Kyouya Sata - Honestly it's a plot device but it's a plot device that actually makes sense. When you're in a relationship with someone you have your alone time as a couple but you still hang around with your friends. Every relationship I've been in we've had alone time and time we spent with friends. Also Yes this will be a Natsu/Yukino story. But I do agree with you on that, Natsu/Chelia and Rouge/Yukino are both good ships as well.**

 **KorraTheFox - You're relationship with your brother sounds adorable and you should feel adorable! :')**

 **Director Maliwan - By all means I agree with you, the whole purpose of that section was to show that Natsu is a deeper character than anyone gives him credit for! You also phrase it in a clear, precise way, don't worry it made perfect sense. Thank you for the compliments! Hopefully I can keep on delivering.**

 **BlaccDragon25 - Thank you for the compliments! (I'm sure there are grammar mistakes somewhere but it's been pretty much drilled into me if I ever want to get a book published I can have no mistakes.) And yeah I knew the beginning was going to be far too similar to other stories for my tastes but hopefully now, we're moving away from that and it can become it's own story. Hold little merit? Mate I think you should seriously considering analysis on books and shows with that intuition. Although not 100% accurate you've figured out my motives far too quickly for my taste, it looks like I need to up my game :'). Thanks again for the review!**

 **Heliosion - Thanks! Will keep trying to make it as good as I can!**

 **BlindLight98 - You should read the analytical section then, you're probably going to love it.**

 **American Mayhem - I will! Thank you for the positive response!**

 **Alex - As someone who hates travelling unless he has a person to travel with, you hit the nail on the head!**

 **DisasterMaster0 - Thanks for the kind words! But yeah that always kind of annoyed me too, Yukino is meant to be one of the nicest people in the show but she never got a chance to say thank you to Natsu, oh well guess that's what happens sometimes. Also I think there may actually be less then 40. I am secretly hoping this inspires people to write for this ship though :')**

 **Arsh360 - Thank you for the review! Although that isn't the case in this chapter I do have plans for future chapters, also I have no idea how many chapters this will run to eventually, but I do have a very basic plot in my head with an ending sorted, so I'm determined to not let this go into abandonment! Also I pinched a system another author used (I forget their name otherwise I would have credited them) where I put updates for my stories on my profile so if you want you can check on there.**

 **Nightshade - Thank you!**

* * *

 **Analysis - Lucy Heartfilia**

 **Warning skip this if you're a die hard Lucy fan**

So this is probably going to end up with me dying from rage as I'm afraid this is not going to be positive. While I don't hate Lucy and I think that a lot of people can't ever seem to put forward a compelling argument as to why they do actually hate her (Put down your weapons anti-NaLu people.) She is a major part of the reason I've started to lose interest in Fairy Tail. To provide a bit of background I actually used to ship NaLu, if you stalk my favourites list you'll see that there are NaLu stories on there from when I first started watching (and reading) Fairy Tail. So why did my opinion change? Simple my old flatmate and I were discussing our favourite ships for Natsu and when he said Lisanna and I asked why not Lucy. He simply told me to use my skills and analyse Lucy and as you may have guessed I came out with conclusions that totally turned the show on it's head for me. So without wasting anymore space and time on an intro, here's what I discovered.

 **She's the Most Normal in the Guild**

So I'm obviously starting off strong here with one point fit to make everyone question my sanity, but when you think about it it's a very good point. Fairy Tail is filled with eccentrics, a place for the weird and wacky to gather, Lucy doesn't fit the bill. Every major character has some hilarious gimmick. Natsu has his idiocy and his fighting and his eating. Gray has his stripping, Erza has her cake and her 'Please hit me.' Even Wendy has her sweets and her nonobservance and clumsiness. Not to mention the backup major characters do as well, (Gajeel - guitar, Cana - drinking, Juvia - Gray, Elfman - men...) What was Lucy given? The Lucy kick? Her banter with Happy? The things that you could highlight aren't even that humorous as her responses are often either just her getting angry or complaining. What Hiro has done to her is basically make her Lisa from the Simpsons (A weird comparison I know but hear me out.) Fairy Tail is similar to the Simpsons in the way that they both aim for humor through their idiotic characters. As a result we want the characters to go and do something stupid. This means that the voice of normality will often get hated. In the Simpsons case that's Lisa, in Fairy Tail's case the one who constantly moans about the fights and guild brawls, about the unusual behavior of her team (Especially Natsu) is Lucy. She is the voice of reason that people simply don't want.

 **Sexualisation Over Characterisation**

So as you may have guessed from my story, Characterisation means a lot to me. However I also realise that Sexualisation will always appeal to a greater market so i invented my own rule to judge characters on. If you're going to sexualise you have to characterise just as much. Best examples of this would be Mira and Erza we see so much of their backstories mixed in with the way they interact with characters that we can excuse the fact that they are made to entice. (One being a model and the other fighting in revealing Armour.) And I will give credit where credit is due, before Tenrou happened Lucy slotted perfectly into this category, her letters to her mum and her interactions with the Sailors in Magnolia and her Dad, were some of the best things about the show, let alone Lucy. But after the time skip what happened? Her clothes began to shrink and vanish while her characterisation did too. The joke with the Boatmen was scraped, her father died and spawned the Key of the Starry Heaven Arc, and the letters to Layla stopped. They transformed her from Interesting to eye candy and it started to cheapen her character. How many times have we now seen Lucy naked? And who actually cares about it anymore? Lucy has been cheapened to the point of total indifference and it's a damn shame to have changed her from what she used to be. The only piece of characterisation that I can think of post-Tenrou is when Natsu returns after the breakup of Fairy Tail and she says that Natsu has no say in being angry at the dissolve as he left the guild. Not only does this make Lucy out to be really insensitive and honestly a bit bitchy, it's also gone after she says it once. i could have dealt with a more cold Lucy if it meant some interesting shift in her interactions with Natsu but nothing changed, further cementing her as merely the attractive figure rather than an in depth character.

 **Her Backstory Isn't That Tragic Compared to Her Teams**

This is rather picky on my part but her backstory just doesn't come close to matching the ones of Team Natsu. She lost both her parents and had a lonely childhood, don't get me wrong this is tragic (I still remember wanting to kick her dad square in the balls at the Riceball scene from the first series.) but everyone else in her team had that as well. Erza didn't know her parents (this is still technically true by, as of right now Erza and Irene/Eileen haven't met) and had to go through slavery and a betrayal of a close friend. Gray lost both his parents only to find out his dad was alive before seeing him die again. Wendy was an orphan, who's dragon left her, before joining Caitshelter, then her guild turned out to be an illusion, before finally getting to Fairy Tail. Natsu happens to be an orphan, got killed, got brought back as a demon by his mentally unbalanced brother so he could kill him in the future, got abandoned by Igneel before joining Fairy Tail. I think it's even more telling that everyone else's backstory is still shaping the overall story of Fairy Tail while Lucy's has seemingly faded off into the background with Aquarius the last slight reminder she had a painful past.

 **Celestial Magic is One of the Worst Magics**

Speaking of Aquarius, this leads me onto my point, that Celestial Spirit Magic is probably the worst magic there is in Fairy Tail (I will admit I'm incredibly biased about this one.) Not only is Celestial Magic responsible for possibly the worst arc in the Fairy Tail anime (The Key of the Starry Heaven Arc) But it's also proved to be the one of the biggest Deus Ex Machina's of the entire show. Eclipse Gate needs closing? Celestial Spirit Magic. Need to transfer the Dragon Slayers into the future to pretty much boot up the entirety of the Fairy Tail story, Celestial Spirit Magic (It doesn't help that this is also used to help 'prove' that Lucy and Natsu should be together.) To further add insult to injury, it just doesn't have the fire power of other magic that is displayed in the Anime/Manga. Out of all the memorable battles in Fairy Tail how many of them are Lucy's? Off the top of my head I can name one-on-one battles that involved Natsu, Gray, Erza and hell even Wendy all kicking ass. It doesn't help that the only two battles I can remember her winning is against Angel (conveniently another Celestial Spirit Mage, also a fight people remember more for the fact that Loke and Aries had to fight, pulling on our heartstrings.) and Bickslow. The rest she's either needed help in or lost (Except for the Flare match because shenanigans but she still wasn't powerful enough to cast Urano Metria by herself). While her Star Dresses go some way to correct this, it's too little too late especially with the feel of a finale that the Alvarez Empire Arc has. To attack this magic even further, while I love the actual Spirits (Loke, Aquarius, Virgo and Aries represent!) They are ultimately quite weak. To put this into perspective, The Celestial Spirit King could not defeat Mard Geer, yet Gray and Natsu could. While it can certainly be debated about as the Celestial Spirit King had a limited time on Earthland, the case still stands while he was useful he didn't finish the fight. The implication being that Gray and Natsu together are more powerful then the most powerful Spirit. Yet after saying all this there are still moments where these spirits have provided comedy gold (Virgo and her deadpan delivers never fail to crack me up) But ultimately combat is one of the main focuses of this show and Celestial Magic is one of the worst things to possibly have for solo fights. I also feel like I need to say this as well. **Lucy isn't a weak mage.** She maybe the weakest in Team Natsu (Yes in my opinion Wendy could beat her. Dragon Force at age 12 no need to say more.) But I'd say at this point she is easily a high B - low A rank mage.

 **Ruining** **Other Characters**

One Character needs to be mentioned, Lisanna. In the grand scheme of things it would have been better for her to have stayed dead. Lisanna is a character that I will say was forced back into Fairy Tail (If you haven't heard about the editor wanting her back yet, to cut to the chase an editor thought her character was interesting and wanted to bring her back so Hiro did reluctantly.) Hiro could have given her more to do than get captured in Tartaros, and ship NaLu in the GMG. To me it feels like an obvious attempt to shift attention away from a possible reunion with Natsu, considering even more that the two (despite being childhood best friends/possible partners) had almost zero interaction from her return from Edolas to current day Alvarez only helps to prove my point. And it's not just Lisanna. There is one example that still gets me mad to this day and that is Juvia, Lucy and Minerva in the GMG water challenge. Juvia is purposefully thrown out of an event she should have won in order to fuel NaLu (I know this sounds far-fetched but think it through as a writer.) In order to really put a fire in Natsu to beat Sting and Rouge, something has to happen to Lucy, along comes Minerva to do it, yet there still is the problem of Juvia in her natural element, so instead of giving her the win which would have helped to strengthen poor Juvia beyond 'Must do everything for Gray-sama', they had her purposefully lose so Lucy could have her moment and create some more NaLu moments in the future. And talking of NaLu...

 **The NaLu ship**

It can't be denied Lucy and Natsu actually have a really good relationship however, for me they will only ever be a BROTP, maybe even a brother/sister dynamic but that's just me. You see for me personally, Natsu partners well with 3 types of personalities,

The Shy and Quiet type:

 _Your Yukino's and your (OLDER) Wendy's_

The Happy, bubbly type:

 _Your Juvia's and your Lisanna's and your Mira's_

And Your Strong Powerful type:

 _Your Erza's, Kagura's and Minerva's_

Unfortunately in my own opinion, Lucy does not fit into any of these categories, as I've said she's the normal girl. Natsu can help inspire confidence in the shy ones and in my mind do anything for them, laugh along and be his normal childish self with your happy ones, and bring out the more fun side in the strong, stoic ones, while they can temper his wilder tendencies. Lucy doesn't really fit into any of these. Natsu would drive Lucy crazy before too long, as proven by the fact she is already exasperated in their friendship.

I also have to address the themes issue with these two. Lucy isn't a princess. It's a damn title she _chose_ for herself in the first season. As far as I am concerned there is no 'Princess and Dragon' theme running onto an angel/demon one. If you want to go with themes there are so many better ones. Dragon/Dragon - Natsu /Wendy. Knight/Dragon - Natsu/Erza. Demon/Demon - Natsu/Mira. etc.

As a final point I saw a picture that was made by an NaLu fan who predicted how Fairy Tail would end. It was a dead Natsu being resurrected by Lucy who discovered that the one true magic is love. This is likely going to be the ending. It's gotten to the stage where NaLu has predicted the end of Fairy Tail long before it was even close to finishing.

 **Conclusion**

I honestly don't blame Lucy for the divide her character causes I blame Hiro. He choose to turn Lucy from one of the most interesting characters into a sex object. He choose to shove NaLu so far down our throats people started to get sick and tired of it especially when there are better suiting people, getting obssessed to the point he was passing over on other characters getting screen time so this ship stayed safe. He choose to turn Lucy into the one woman that always needed saving in a show where she is surrounded by some of the most badass women I have ever seen in fiction. He made her magic the most frustratingly annoying there is and his ending predictible. Look I want to like Lucy again I really do, It would get me investited back into Fairy Tail. So if you want a friendly debate about the things I've said, message me about it and he can do some good old analyzing together, if there's a topic you want me to try and talk about let me know! For know I'm calling it a day!

(PS Sorry if this was shit and there's mistakes, I wrote this between 2:30AM-4:30AM so I could get the chapter out today!)


	5. A Summoner's Challenge

**Briefly before the story, thank you all so much for getting me above the 100 mark on favorites, it means a lot to know that so many people like my work! Also some story plugs,**

 **Sabertooth's Rising Ace by  DisasterMaster0 \- another Natsu/Yukino story and it's their first so give them some support.**

 **Permutation** **by Maximillian Havisham \- An interesting idea that includes Yukino as seemingly a big part!**

 **When the Sky Falls for the Flame** **by SilverWrath \- It actually pains me that this doesn't have more followers. One of the best written stories around.**

* * *

 **A Summoner's Challenge**

"Hey Yukino! Wait for us!" The Celestial Mage spun around to be met with a jogging Rouge rapidly trying to gain ground on her while Frosch miraculously napped undisturbed in his arms, the jostling not bothering the sleeping Exceed as it carried on enjoying its sweet dreams. Waiting for her friend to catch up, Yukino prepared a smile to greet him with. However as the Shadow Dragon Slayer drew level, he took charge of the conversation before she could so much as open her mouth.

"It's pretty late, why don't we walk together?" Although it was obvious that she could look after herself, Yukino still happily accepted the offer, it paid to be cautious. And after all, everything was better in the company of a friend. The two set off in a comfortable silence, Rouge appearing to be lost in thought, while the Celestial Mage gazed lovingly into the starry night finding peace in its beauty. This ease continued for a few minutes before the Shadow Dragon Slayer finally withdrew from his thoughts to glance sideways at his friend, carefully planning how to approach his next question without showing his intent.

"So Yukino, how do you feel about Natsu joining the guild?" The question was immediately followed by a warm smile gracing the face of Sabre's Celestial Mage, her eyes sparkling in the darkness as they switched from the stars to the Shadow Dragon Slayer, one of her hands quickly finding its way to her chest before it dropped back down to her side.

"I love it Rouge-sama! One of our best friends is staying with us! Not to mention one of my first real friends, what isn't there to be happy about?" Realising she was gushing, Yukino blushed, stopping her rambling as Rouge began to chuckle at her embarrassment. Trying to move the conversation on as quickly as possible the Blue-haired Mage asked a question of her own.

"Why do you ask, Rouge-sama?" Said Slayer looked away from his friend, concentrating instead on the snoozing Exceed in his arms.

"You seemed very happy to have him, not to mention he certainly seems to have taken a stronger liking to you. I just think it will be good for you to have someone who's helped you and been there for you." Yukino gave him a confused look however Rouge was steadfastly ignoring her eye contact attempt, choosing instead to fuss over Frosch, making sure his friend's sleep was a comfortable slumber.

"He'll be just as good for you Rouge-sama, probably as good as Sting is. He's already helped us both and he hasn't even been here a day." This brought an entirely new thought into the Dragon Slayer's head, causing him to curse soundlessly. Tonight seemed to be a night for awkward questions.

"How are you coping with Sting leaving? You were quite close to him weren't you?" Yukino did not seem to pick up on the tentative tone her friend was speaking with, her attention back on the stars as thoughts about her day streamed through her head.

"I'm fine. Didn't you see him at Fairy Tail Rouge-sama? He was happy! Just like I am, honestly this seems to have worked out well for everybody." Yukino totally missed the relieved grin that now spread over Rouge's face. The Shadow Dragon almost let out a laugh, but managed to maintain his composure.

"Yeah, it really did end up working out well for everyone. Come on, let's get you home. It's gotten late." The Celestial Mage looked down form the night sky, blinking a few times to help regain her focus before smiling at her friend.

"Okay Rouge-sama, it has been a long day." With that the two headed off into the night, both with their thoughts on a certain Pink-haired Dragon Slayer.

* * *

He had no idea where he was, all he could see in every direction was a gentle mist filling his world with a strange translucent white. At a first glance he appeared to be floating however after he gave a tentative attempt at movement, he found that he was on solid ground. Striding forward through the mist, Natsu looked for something, anything, to break the monotony of the scenery.

A brief moment passed, and through his blurred vision he saw a faint flash of what appeared to be blonde hair streaming away from him. Chasing after it as quickly as he could, Natsu was lead on what felt like a very long-winded chase stretching on for an eternity, until it finally stopped just outside of the Fire Dragon Slayer's clear visual range.

Approaching with caution, Natsu was greeted with a slowly forming Lucy, her face stoic, the eyes he used to love staring directly into his very being. He had a distinct sense of nakedness, as her gaze ravaged his soul.

"Luce, what are you doing here? Where are we?" He would rather have someone else with him at the moment, after everything he had gone through, the pain of seeing her was still raw, still cutting. Yet he could not stop the feeling of slight contentment that she was here. Then again he was just happy someone was there with him in this seemingly endless purgatory. However as much as he did not want her to be, she was still special to him.

Lucy's expression never changed, she carried on staring at her former best friend, not at all fazed by her surroundings. Slowly she opened her mouth, her monotone voice echoing in the nothingness around them.

"You left us Natsu. You left the guild, the very people you swore to never abandon. What sort of friend are you? We were supposed to be a family, you were meant to help us deal with our pasts and now thanks to your selfishness, we're doomed to relieve them all over again."

Stepping away from Lucy, Natsu's world was briefly altered as the faces of his most treasured friends suddenly surrounded him in a pentagram, with only one side of the structure blank and empty for escape. Despite the exit it, he still felt hemmed in, far too close to his former best friend for his taste, especially as she was just stood there in the centre, never stopping her ceaseless staring.

The Fire Dragon Slayer had never felt so panicked in all his life, the combination of Lucy, his friends and his semi-entrapment were joining together to mentally hound him. He looked around helplessly, pleading wither every fibre of his being to escape from his hell. However it was not to be. The distorted voice of Happy started to send mental daggers into his mind, the warped sounds seemingly holding him in place.

"Natsu, I thought I was your best friend. Why did you leave me behind? You think I'm weak don't you? You think I'm useless! I knew you weren't really my partner. A partner doesn't leave his buddy, not matter what."

With a resounding crack, Happy's face splintered, distorting the Exceed's features as his words washed over Natsu. The Fire Dragon Slayer could only stare at the disappointed, almost heartbroken look on his sons face. He recognised that expression. He knew it so very well.

"Natsu-nii…"

He spun around immediately at the voice, coming face to face with the girl he thought of as a little sister. He wanted to back away yet there was that weird compulsion keeping him in place, to see and feel every uttered word.

"I just wanted to belong Natsu-nii, I wanted a family to love me. You said you were my brother Natsu-nii, but you didn't mean it did you? You've already forgotten me, left me behind as you went off on another adventure, just like after Tartaros." He wanted nothing more than to go and hold Wendy, to tell her that it was all untrue. Yet the strange sense of compulsion left him stuck still on the spot, staring unable to move.

"I guess this time makes four, Natsu." The Dragon Slayer tried to reach, tried to scream to Wendy that all the things she was saying was false, yet the words wove their magic, keeping him securely locked in place.

Crack.

Once again, the splintering sound of invisible glass rang out, not showing a single shard falling. Wendy's face had fractures just like Happy's, morphing her usually serene, if not shy features as she sneered at her so called brother.

"Why Natsu?"

Glancing in the direction of the stuttering, hitching voice, the face of Erza greeted him, tears pouring from both her eyes as she stared wide-eyed at her childhood friend.

"You promised you'd never let me cry again, but look at me Natsu, look at me! I can't stop. It's because you left us Natsu. You broke all the promises you made. How can you look at yourself? You made Fairy Tail, your identity, one of the very things that define you and you abandoned it because you were too weak to face Lucy."

Natsu tried to close into himself as the words of the Knight crashed over him. This however seemed to convey some sort of message to his red-headed friend, who managed a wet sneer as her blazing glare tore into his very soul.

"You are weak Natsu, I once said that one day you would outgrow me, I guess I was wrong. You will never grow to even match me, let alone surpass. You failed to live up to the expectations we all had for you, you failed us. You failed me."

Crack.

Erza joined both Happy and Wendy as her face malformed with a crying sneer. In a different time, these words would have lit a fire under him, heightening his already formidable abilities to a devastating degree. Yet right there, in that unknown place. He had no power. The weight of his recent struggles starting to slowly worm its way into his mind as the words acted as a sort of reminder.

"How dare you Natsu!"

Taken aback by the angry tone, the Fire Dragon Slayer's vision quickly found the source. His gaze first discovered long silky white hair, before slowly moving over to a beautiful porcelain face, marred by a surprising amount of rage. It was Mira. Her eyes ablaze, attempting to wipe the very essence of Natsu from existence with nothing but a single, flaming, look.

"After we waited all that time for Lisanna to come back, you left her behind. Your childhood best friend, she died Natsu and what did you do when she came back? You barely acknowledged her existence, hardly spoke to her, hardly hung out with her, she may as well have stayed dead. You abandoned her when you were one of the few reasons she had to be happy about her return. You broke her heart Natsu; my family will never forgive you for this!"

Guilt began to well up inside as he listened to the Barmaid's words. He had definitely ignored Lisanna, all be it unintentionally, when he had the chance. Even though so many catastrophes had fallen on Fairy Tail, there were still quite moments when he could have spent time with her, but he stayed with his team, stayed with Lucy. He flinched at the thought of the Celestial Mage and what he had done, alerting Mira to his thoughts.

"You left her for Lucy Natsu, you're despicable. After all the things you said to me after she died, how you pretended to comfort me. Yes Natsu, pretended. You said she wouldn't want us to mope, you said she would want us to keep smiling, but I don't think you really know her at all. We hate you for what you've done. I hope you stay as far away from us as possible."

Crack.

Not even the fracture could quell the intense rage on her face; Natsu looked around the faces of his family surrounding him, all interested in tormenting him in some shape or form. He tried to find an escape from the hell, desperate for this ordeal to end. Looking beyond the stoic Lucy, the empty mist from earlier was there gently rolling and swirling in the remaining space in between Happy and Mira.

Realising he had let himself get distracted from the escape that was readily available, Natsu began to rally, intent on breaking the mental lock holding him in place and move to the mist. Concentrating harder than he ever had before, The Fire Dragon Slayer forced himself to focus on the newly discovered exit. After a full minute, Natsu felt the block give way with what felt like a dull pop. Gasping as the success, the Fire Mage steeled himself to finally move and escape, even if it meant passing Lucy along the way.

Before he even took a step, Natsu's exit suddenly shimmered before Gray's features appeared, blocking him in with a condescending look on his face. Internally freezing at the sight, Natsu again succumbed to the self-inflicted mental block, feeling the familiar misfortune of being forced to remain in one place.

"Well well Natsu, it turns out I was right all along, I am the stronger one. You left because you couldn't face your own reality, after all our battles I think it's funny you were defeated by Lucy. So much for the brave Dragon Slayer that can take on anything and everything. I wish I could say I was surprised but then again I'm not a liar, I've always been the better of the two of us."

He should have been furious, yet he could not summon the will to tear his rival apart. The emotional toll was just too much for him. He tried to look away to regain some composure, however Gray held his eye, forcing him to look on at his smug expression.

"So go ahead, rot in your self-inflicted exile, I don't care. I'll be back in Fairy Tail, getting even stronger, making sure everyone here forgets that you were even a member as I destroy your memory and replace it with my own. Your own family will forget you even existed, while I'll be their hero."

Crack.

The final face shattered, the cracks twisting across Gray's features. Yet even with the distortion, the smug hatred was still present. With all his friends against him, and their words laying heavily on his mind, Natsu collapsed to his knees staring at the floor, avoiding the eyes of the people he considered family.

Suddenly footsteps began to echo from what sounded like everywhere at once. Despite the fact his entire being was screaming at him to keep staring down at the ground, the Fire Dragon Slayer looked up to see his former best friend slowly making her way over to him, her eyes never once leaving the mentally exhausted figure currently trying his hardest not to fall face first into the floor. Finally reaching her quarry, Lucy stopped, standing over him eyes as empty as when he first saw her. She did not move, did not even flinch as she stood there, peering.

"All of this Natsu, all of this happened because of you. All the tears, the anger, It's all because you could not stand to face me. Yet here you are, claiming to love me and you can't even look me in the eyes. Why would I ever love you? Why would I love such an immature, self-centred fool like you? A person who can't even keep his promises to his friends and family? Do you understand why Natsu? Why I will never love you? Why no one will ever love you? It's because you're an ignorant boy trying to be a man."

Natsu's eyes widened at the viscous attack on his person, sure Lucy had said hurtful things before, but at least she had had the excuse of being in an emotional situation, here her eyes were dead, no sign of pain or turmoil to be seen. This Lucy seemed to almost have a killer intent.

"It's everything about you Natsu, everyone has their eccentric thing in Fairy Tail but you insist on taking it to an unneeded level. Whether it's the way you eat like a pig, to your general idiocy and dense behaviour, even the way you invade people's homes and start fights, you mess around and ruin every live you touch. And it's not just because you're a Dragon Slayer, look at Wendy or even my Sting or Rouge. Face it Natsu, you're the unwanted exception."

The Fire Dragon Slayer looked away from Lucy, tears pouring from his eyes as he tried to process what she said. This could not be happening, why was she insisting on going so personal? It was like she was trying to tear him apart. For her part, Lucy still had not moved, towering over him, never touching but staying close enough for him to know she was there, eyes boring into the back of his head.

"This is your life now Natsu, you choose this." Lucy seemed to finish at this as she took a step back confusing her old friend. However her purpose soon became clear. The distorted voices of his friends began to hound him, the mixture of old insults and new joining to create a cacophony of noise invading all his senses. That was when he figured out what Lucy was doing. She was enjoying the show.

Once again Natsu tried to move and once again his body failed him, but did he even want to move? Had he really been that callous in throwing his family away? The people who he respected and loved, had he cut off his ties? And so there he laid, tears softly gushing down his face as the voices kept clamouring to be heard, every one intent on their mental anguish.

It was then at his lowest, he felt hands on him, helping him to a more comfortable position on his knees as his face was tilted upwards. Looking at his unexpected saviour he was treated to the visage of Lucy whose expression had surprisingly softened. However his shock paled in comparison to the level it rose to after her next move. The Celestial Mage cupped his face treating him to the most radiant smile she had ever given. He was completely stunned. Maybe she still wanted some part of the friendship they had shared.

"Oh Natsu, seeing you like this. So weak and helpless, it's just so gratifying. I can't tell you how happy you're making me. Isn't that what you want Natsu? To make me happy? Of course it is, it's what you've wanted since we first met in Haragon."

She threw her head back and laughed a melodious ringing song, one that would capture the attention of any person with its beauty. Natsu could only look at her, defeated. The fire inside quenched brutally, leaving only the crushing darkness of abandonment and guilt. Lucy's grip tightened on his face as she began to rake over his skin, attempting to score into his skin. He did not even flinch.

"Good Natsu, you keep nice and docile for now. Turns out you are capable of learning."

Her grin remained unchanged as she gazed into her 'best friends' eyes. It was as the Fire Dragon Slayer gazed back that Lucy's form flickered for a brief second. Confusion quickly won out as Natsu caught it, confirming it was not a simple trick of the light. Lucy's smile suddenly turned into worry as she opened her mouth to utter his name.

"Natsu!"

Only that was not the voice he was accustomed to. It belonged to another Celestial Spirit Mage he knew all too well.

"Yukino?"

As soon as he said her name, Lucy's visage began to flicker, not being able to hold a corporal form. Gradually the speed increased blinking in and out rapidly before totally fading, leaving the Fire Dragon Slayer staring into the blank space that was left. After a few seconds a form slowly began to materialise in front of his very startled eyes. Long legs were first, covered modestly in white socks reaching up to the mid thighs. A body followed soon after, one that many people would say was the definition of feminine beauty, toned and slender from years of training in attempts to get to the highest peak of psychical performance. A well-endowed torso was securely wrapped in a form fitting white dress that stretched down to stop just short of the socks leaving an enticing slither of leg showing. All of this was completed with a currently open, large feathery cloak that made its way all the way down to the legs ending in six spear-headed protrusions, a star shaped clasp keeping the cloak around the figure's form, holding the ensemble together.

Finally the head was revealed. Light blue hair fell just below the chin, framing one of the prettiest faces Natsu had ever seen, a flower, a darker shade than the hair, further decorated the already silky tresses. The face was blessed with a cute, small nose and a pair of soft lips, leading to the most breath-taking full brown eyes that were currently alive with concern. Yukino had appeared, vanquishing any trace of the other person who used to be there.

"Natsu-sama!"

She immediately bent down, reaching over to help him to his feet. As her hand grasped his shoulder, he felt his body relax, movement finally returning fully to him after what felt like an age. Sighing quietly he started to gain his footing, trying his best to ignore how shaky he currently was as Yukino hoisted him upright and steadied him all at once. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Natsu looked over to his friend, only to be surprised by the look of determination he found.

"Listen to me Natsu-sama, nothing that our friends are saying has any truth to it. They would never say any of those cruel words, you're their family!"

Natsu looked at the Celestial Mage with a clear disbelieving look on his face. The things they said were far too personal to each of them to be crafted without malicious intent. Catching the look on his face, Yukino quickly decided to change tactics.

"Do you trust me, Natsu-sama?"

This was a rather easy question, after everything she had done for him of course he did. Nodding firmly, the Fire Dragon Slayer tried to convey the deep level he actually had for her. Smiling at the eagerness, the Celestial Spirit Mage made her way over to Wendy's face, ignoring the still distorted voice hurling insults at her precious friend. Turning to face the Dragon Slayer, Yukino once again spoke.

"Although I don't know your friends as well as you do, I know for a fact that they'd never say such hurtful things about one of their own. I don't need you to believe my words, Natsu-sama. I need you to believe my actions."

With her piece said, Yukino gently rested her hand on the shattered face of the youngest Dragon Slayer. Immediately the splinters began to repair themselves, the cracks shrinking back as if time had been reversed. In next to no time Wendy's face was fully healed, not only that, but the emotionless expression on her face had turned into a wide beaming grin.

"Natsu-nii! Good luck in Sabretooth, I know you'll do great. I just know you'll get over Lucy-san and come back to go on more adventures with me and the team. Come back and visit soon, if you don't I'll come to you, if that's not too much of a problem. I miss you Natsu-nii, I'll come see you really soon!"

He did not realise a smile had made its way onto his face at how happy his adopted little sister looked. He caught Yukino's eye as she was looking at the scene with a small smile. Widening it slightly, she moved onto the next face, the face of Happy. Once again she laid her hands on the broken image and the cracks began to heal, fixing both the distorted face and voice of the Exceed.

"Natsu, I think I'm getting closer to Carla! By the time you're back I know she'll have accepted my fish. That means you have to come visit soon! You can come and be proud of me!"

The Fire Dragon Slayer had to giggle at his best friend's optimism. He did actually have a little pride at the sheer determination his 'son' had. It made him feel like he had done something right while raising him. He did not just tease everyone mercilessly, usually getting himself a kick in the face in the process. Snapping back to the present, his eyes quickly looked for Yukino, finding her now in front of Erza, raising her hands.

As soon as the Celestial Mage's hand brushed the Knight's face, the tears dried up. The cracks faded leaving behind a smirking Redhead with a gentle look of care on her face.

"Natsu. I don't get to say this often, mainly because you keep destroying things on our quests but I'm so proud of you! Not only have you handled Lucy's relationship change amazingly maturely but your choice to leave so you can grow was the right one, never doubt yourself Natsu. You've grown up to be such a fine person and I'm truly honoured to call you my family. Come to visit soon, we all miss you. Yes even Gray does, just don't tell him I told you."

He actually laughed out loud this time, a warm feeling spreading through his body as the speech Erza gave him took effect. She did not hold his leaving against him; she had in fact embraced the idea even complementing his thoughts. Grinning over at Yukino, the Fire Dragon Slayer found her over in front of Mira's snarling face with a frown gracing her lips.

"This isn't the Mira-sama I know, the one I know is a kind, beautiful woman, not this sneering bully. It's going to be a lot of fun to fix this one."

With a bit more enthusiasm than any of the others, Yukino repaired Mira, not being able to keep the happiness off her face. It felt gratifying to help someone who had done so much for her. Mira's face immediately lost its rage, the gentleness of the Barmaid returning almost instantly.

"Hey Natsu. Me and Lisanna have been keeping an eye on Happy, making sure he doesn't get into too much trouble without you. We hope you're doing alright; even Elfman's worried, although he says 'A real man doesn't get worried.' We can't wait for you to come home; we don't have anyone to tease! It's so boring! But seriously we can't wait to have you around again. You're such a bright spark Natsu. We just want you better and back with us so we can make you flustered again!"

The guilt had lessened somewhat at this. He internally doubted it would go away in its entirety until he could make it up to them in what way he deemed fit. He knew they would never let him, but he was determined, he would find a way. Knowing that there was still one person left, Natsu looked for a certain Celestial Spirit Mage for the last time, finding her in front of Gray, already reaching to fix him.

Just like before the cracks healed and faded just like the condescending look on his rivals face. However the smirk morphed into a more challenging one rather than the smug superiority that it held before.

"I hope you're keeping up with your training Natsu, because I'm going to be looking to finally prove that I'm the stronger of the two of us. Keep on my level Natsu, there's no fun in beating you if you're not even a challenge to begin with."

He had to give Gray credit for one thing; he knew how to get under his skin. He could feel his magic begging to be released, to go and train as hard as he could for as long as he could. There was no way some stuck up Ice-Princess was going to get the better of him in a fight. He was, and always would be, the stronger of the two and he knew it. Turning back to Yukino, he found her stood in the spot Lucy had occupied when all this had started.

"You see Natsu-sama, your friends could never hate you, they all love you. And it's all because of who you are, you are so special! What they've said is just a small detail, there's so much more that makes you, you. Your willingness to forgive people is astounding. Laxus, Gajeel, Sting Rouge, both present and future you accepted. The list is endless, just like the love you have for people in your heart. That's what makes us love you."

Moving forward, Yukino approached the Fire Dragon Slayer wrapping her arms around him as she snuggled into his chest, her head resting comfortably underneath his chin.

"You don't have to feel any guilt about your actions. You have to do what's best for you once every while. Remember I'm always here Natsu-sama and I will never let you feel those feelings again if I can help it."

Looking down into the Celestial Spirit Mage's eyes, Natsu saw something he had only seen in her a few times. Determination. There were still the other emotions that encapsulated her, compassion, empathy, warmth all still present, yet it was determination that shone through the brightest. And it was all for him.

Determination to keep him safe. Determination to make him forget his painful experience at the hands of her fellow Celestial Spirit Mage. She wanted to heal his wounds, make sure he never felt the pain he felt from the jabs of his friends ever again. If he was completely honest with himself, he struggled to remember if anyone had done something so selfless for him for a long time. He could only gaze happily into her eyes as the warmth of genuine care that she radiated took over him.

He was so absorbed; he did not notice his surroundings fading around him. He only registered what was happening when Yukino's body started to disappear. It was her comforting smile that kept him from panicking, even as her body was swallowed up in the pale, golden light.

"Remember Natsu-sama, you are remarkable. Not just as a powerful Mage, but as a person too!" With these parting words, the light encompassed the entirety of his vision and he saw no more.

Bolting upright, Natsu took a brief moment to let his eyes attune to the light before frantically scanning the room to catch his bearings. It took him a minute to place where he was. It was his new bedroom, it took him a while longer to realise he was in a new home settling in. Growing accustom to his surroundings would take time.

Wiping the gathered sweat off his brow, the Fire Dragon Slayer looked back over his dream with an unusual amount of thought. The experience had shaken him, he could not doubt that. Even though it ended in a more pleasant fashion, he found it hard to ignore that a good three quarters of it was a nightmare. He rarely remembered anything, let alone his dreams, yet he had a strange feeling that this was a dream he was likely never going to forget.

Rising from his bed, Natsu made his way over to his bedroom window, gazing out into the morning light. He was unused to living in a place that was so busy so early. Sure he had spent nights at the guild or at Lucy's but that had only been the odd night. He was going to have to get used to crowds being the norm rather than the tranquillity of the forest home he was used to.

Even at this early stage of the morning people were already out and about, starting their day. Shopkeepers and stall owners were doing some last minute tasks, making sure their wares were enticing as possible. Some were just wondering the streets, taking in the rising sun as they sent greetings to friends and strangers alike. This was exactly the type of morning he needed.

Tearing his attention away from the scenes outside, Natsu moved out of his bedroom leaving the bed unmade for later, his feet took him to his new bathroom. Beginning to draw a bath, the Fire Dragon Slayer moved in front of his mirror. Luckily his dream did not seem to be showing on his face. He looked marginally tired of course, but there were no bags under his eyes, no pupils showing the horrors of the night.

Sighing to himself in relief, Natsu climbed into his now ready bath, sinking into the boiling water, letting out a groan unashamed his body began to relax. He could deal with everything later, right now he was comfortable. And he would be damned if he was not going to enjoy it.

* * *

"Hey Natsu! How're you feeling today?" Looking up to where the voice had come from, the Fire Dragon Slayer saw both Rouge and Dobengal looking at him with smiles on their faces. Waving for them to sit down next to him, Natsu quickly went back to eating the breakfast he had ordered, barley registering the fact both men had gladly claimed their seats near him.

"I'm okay, took me a while to remember where I was when I woke up though." Both mages nodded at his response, Dobengal taking control of the conversation shortly afterwards.

"Yeah must be weird waking up in a new place for the first time in forever. At least you picked a great city to move to." While it was no Magnolia, Natsu had to admit the people were just as friendly there as they were back at home. Many shouted greetings at him as he made his way to Sabretooth; a few even stopped him for conversations. It all came together to make for a pleasant morning.

The Fire Dragon Slayer nodded at that, purposefully minding his manners. He figured that food flying into the faces of his new friends was probably a sure fire way of getting him kicked out and sent back to Fairy Tail. The three let the conversation end there, lapsing into a comfortable silence as Natsu finished his food. They stayed that way for a while, all three watching members filter in to begin their days, catching the strange patterns in their routines. It was oddly relaxing. Something Natsu was quickly getting uncomfortable with. So is the curse of being a man of action.

By chance his fidgeting managed to draw the attention of Sabre's new master. Making her way over to her new member, Minerva decided to be kind. It was his first proper day after all.

"Not planning on a guild brawl are you Natsu-kun?" And just like that she already broke the goal she had in mind. She found it hard to care considering just how high the Fire Dragon Slayer had jumped, twinned with the fact that all the colour had drained from his face made the moment even sweeter. Teasing her new recruit was fast becoming her new favourite activity.

Trying to recover his dignity Natsu turned to glare at the perpetrator however, her sweet smile ground him to a quick halt, experiences with Mira flying through his head. Grumbling under his breath, he decided that it was wiser to leave well enough alone. This did not mean she was done with him though; not when there was still fun to be had.

"You didn't answer the question Natsu darling. I'm not above teaching lessons this early in the morning." Her smile turned predatory as she eyed him. She had no plans to actually lay her hands on her new Slayer but there was no reason for him to know that.

"No ma'am! Wouldn't do something like that. I value my life." Her sweet smile returned as she noted the sweat dripping off his brow. Deciding he probably had enough for one morning, Minerva moved onto why she had come over in the first place.

"I actually came over to ask you about your plans for now Natsu. What will you do first now that you're officially a new member?" The Fire Mage already knew what he wanted to do. Gaining his patterned fanged grin, he quickly gave his answer, excited for his new plan of action.

"Doing jobs of course! I know I'm more used to being in a team but I can still go solo so that won't be too much of a problem. Besides I don't want to mess up any of the teams here already. But before any of that, I think I should train a little, make sure I'm ready to go back on jobs, after all it's been a long time."

His eyes grew momentarily misty at the memories of his old adventures with his friends. Shaking his head to clear away the stray thoughts, the Fire Dragon Slayer continued where he left off.

"Sorry just got lost in thought there, anyway do we have a place to train or do we have to find our own spot?" Before anyone could say a word however a soft voice pipped up surprising everyone present.

"Erm Natsu-sama?" Everyone turned around to see Yukino standing there, seemingly refusing to meet anyone's eyes as her right hand made its way to her keys to run along them. Looking up and seeing that everyone was waiting for her, the Celestial Spirit Mage quickly carried on with her interruption.

"We do have a training area it's by the pool, I'll show you if you want, but I have one condition."

Eyebrows rose at this. Yukino was one of the most kind-hearted individuals in the guild, she had never once asked for a favour in return for helping someone out. This train of thought appeared to be the consensus of all of Sabretooth as more people began to listen in to hear what the Celestial Mage was planning to ask for.

Unfortunately for Yukino, she noticed the added attention immediately. Fighting the urge to not sink into herself, the Celestial Mage remembered what Natsu said to her. Taking a moment she steeled herself to ask her favour.

' _Remember what Natsu-sama said, I need to have more confidence in myself. I can do this! It's just one question.'_ Squaring her shoulders Yukino looked to her friend, only to see him staring directly at her. His eyes slightly squinted in confusion, yet a happy smile on his lips as he waited for her to ask her request.

' _It's not just a question, I can't do this! Why did I have to make myself look like such a fool! And it's in front of the entire guild as well; oh I'll never live this down!'_ Looking around for any possible escape, Yukino let her inner panic take control. She berated herself when she realised that there was no way out, she was stuck.

Glancing back to Natsu, the Celestial Spirit Mage saw that his confusion and concern had only grown; he appeared to have sensed her inner turmoil and was about to check on her to make sure everything was okay.

' _No, I can't back down now, not after the faith he's put in me!'_ Focusing on her growing resolve, Yukino felt her panic start to drain away as her eyes narrowed at the Fire Dragon Slayer, startling him at the sudden change. Facing off with him, the Celestial Mage finally said what the guild had been waiting for.

"Natsu-sama I want to spar with you!" The guild did not expect that.

In fact most had been stunned into silence, not even attempting to hide the fact they had been eavesdropping the entire time. This even stretched to her friends, both Dobengal and Rouge stared at her, mouths agape as the formerly peaceful member showed a fire that had not been present since she had first arrived at Sabretooth, determined to impress. Minerva seemed to be the only one unfazed by this side of their Spirit Mage; she had raised a single eyebrow before a smile made its way onto her face. In fact she seemed to be holding back a gleeful laugh.

It was Natsu however that had the most interesting expression; it seemed to be a mixture of confusion and guilt if his furrowed brow and attempts at avoiding eye contact were anything to go by. It was certainly not like the Fire Dragon Slayer to have such a mixture of emotions playing out on his face, Yukino found herself drawn to it, even though the look was making her nervous. She was not the only one who appeared to be interested in the former Fairy Tail Mage. The rest of the guild members were now looking to Natsu to see what reaction he would have. Their anticipation grew as he finally opened his mouth to speak.

"I'm sorry Yukino but I don't think I can. I know I love to spar and train, but I don't know if I could do it with you. I tend to go all out and I don't want to accidentally hurt you." While the answer given, the guild let out a sigh of relief. The Young Summoner however felt like a knife had been plunged straight into her gut. She could see all the ideas and thoughts she had falling apart before her eyes, because of one unexpected variable, he said no. Her plans were dashed and she had no idea what to do.

She was not the only one disappointed. Minerva had lost the grin on her face in favour of a grimace which was directed straight at Natsu making the Fire Dragon Slayer sweat profusely. Looking for some support, he found much to his annoyance that there was none to be found. Rouge and Dobengal were slowly backing away, trying to get out of the current situation. It annoyed him further when he realised the two were particularly good at vanishing, the ability coming hand in hand with their magic.

He probably would not have been so agitated if it was not for the absolute dejection on her face. It was only helping to build on the guilt churning away inside of him. He never wanted to hurt his friends and that was exactly why he had rejected her bargain. The last thing he wanted to do was accidentally play out the same routine and go overboard. If he did that he would never be able to show his face in Sabretooth again, maybe not even Fairy Tail, she was close to both Mira and Lucy after all. Accidentally harming Yukino was out of the question.

However the Celestial Spirit Mage did not see it that way.

' _So he does think I'm weak. Does that mean Natsu-sama lied to me? No that can't be it, he definitely isn't the type.'_ The thoughts only to the Bluenette's woes as she turned away looking to once again get out of the situation by any means as quickly as possible. After taking a few steps back Yukino paused for a second as a thought popped into her mind.

' _If I give up now, I'll never get what I want! I don't know why Natsu-sama rejected my request but I'm not going to give up now. There's one thing he taught me that I can learn, I'm going to put my trust in my strength.'_ With her head held high, Yukino spun around on her heels before marching back towards Natsu, showing off her new confident stride.

"Actually Natsu-sama that wasn't a request, that was a demand! I will have my sparring match with you!"

Sabretooth reeled at the revelation. Their sweet, loving Yukino was demanding a fight with one of the roughest and most powerful fighters in Fiore. A new round of whispers broke out, all trying to work out what was going on. Of course what was happening was entertaining yet there was a considerable amount of concern for their friend. It looked like she was provoking a sleeping dragon. One that would have no problem roasting her alive at the rude awakening it received.

All voices were abruptly silenced as Natsu walked over to Yukino, stopping directly in front of her to peer into her eyes. Brown met black as the Fire Mage stood for a whole minute, doing nothing more than searching his friend's eyes.

For her part, Yukino fought down the embarrassment and discomfort of having her personal space invaded so nonchalantly. It did not make it any easier that the Dragon Slayer was gazing so intently at her. She felt like she was on show, that everything was laid bare and that her friend knew her darkest secrets. It was certainly distracting that his eyes were so deep; sparkling as they expressed how much he was concentrating.

After an eternity, Natsu pulled away. Taking a few steps back, his eyes never left hers, keeping the connection going a while longer. In true Natsu fashion, his patterned grin lit up his face as he finally seemed to find what he had been looking for. All the guilt and frustration had vanished and only happiness was present as Natsu opened his mouth to break the silence.

"Lead the way Yukino, I accept!"

More gasps sounded from around the guild, why had Natsu changed his mind so suddenly? All eyes turned to Minerva, their wandering glances trying to figure out how she would stop this insanity. However, much to their growing dread, that damn smirk was back again. It was clear their Lady had no intentions of stopping this fight.

Yukino herself had gone through a drastic change. Here dejected demeanour had switched to one of joy and determination at her friend's change of mind. She was fully concentrating on the task at hand, ignoring the incredulous looks she received from her guild mates as she guided the Fire Dragon Slayer to the training area. She had to be fully focused if she wanted to stand even the slightest chance of success.

As the two made their way out of the main hall, Minerva was quick to rise to her feet and follow, Dobengal and Rouge not far behind as they cast each other looks of intrigue. The rest of the guild wordlessly rose as one following on, making their way to the showdown.

They were greeted with both Yukino and Natsu standing in a circular sandpit, staring each other down. The pit itself was level with the ground surrounding it in order to provide an easier viewing experience for the audience who were separated from the action by a simple, wooden fence that stretched around the perimeter. It was a basic training area, nothing overly fancy.

Even as the rest of Sabretooth spread themselves out around the barrier, the two mages in the centre had not so much as flinched, both hyping themselves up for the upcoming spar. Minerva hopped over the fence, sauntering her way over to Yukino with her smirk still present on her face. As she pulled in close to the Spirit Mage, the leader of Sabre began to softly whisper in her friend's ear.

"Don't get caught up about the result of this fight. It was brave of you to challenge him in the first place. Concentrate on making him work for any momentum. Show him what I know you're capable of; show him the power of Sabretooth."

With her piece said, Minerva moved in between the two combatants before taking on the unofficial role of announcer.

"This match today is a friendly spar between two friends. That means no serious injuries and no going overboard." She gave Natsu a significant look but he appeared to not notice it, his tunnel vision having eyes only for Yukino at the moment.

"Are there anymore rules the participants want to add before we begin?" Yukino jumped in after a few moments of silence, much to the shock of everyone present.

"Natsu-sama, I propose we do this without magic, if you feel that's acceptable?"

The concern of the crowd increased once more. This had the potential to be a no magic match meaning one thing. It was going to be an all-out fist fight instead. They could only hope Natsu found the terms disagreeable, however their hopes were dashed as a wicked grin had found its way onto the Fire Mage's face. He did not speak, just gave a quick nod to show his agreement to the change.

"Now that the rules have been placed, this match can begin as soon as all non-combatants leave the ring." With her job now finished, Minerva strolled over to Rouge and Dobengal, hopping the fence before she turned to watch the show.

With shades of his fight with Sting, Natsu stood stock still for a couple of moments before the smirk from reappeared on his face and he charged forward, his fist cocked ready to deliver a decisive blow early to end the bout. However before he could even so much as throw a punch at his opponent, a foot connected with the side of his face sending the Dragon Slayer skidding across the ring. Looking up shocked, he was met by a now cape free Yukino standing with an elegant poise waiting for his next move.

"How did you do that?" He tried to keep the surprise out of his voice but failed miserably as he eyed her suspiciously. It was not often he was beaten at hand-to-hand combat and the woman in front of him had gotten the first hit. She continued to watch, expression unchanged as she maintained her defensive stance, waiting for a few seconds before finally answering.

"I know the limitations of my magic Natsu-sama, I know that it leaves me vulnerable at close quarters and I didn't like the thought of being useless if someone got in close to me. So I studied different Martial Arts so that I could defend myself if my spirits weren't enough."

He knew this news should have come as some surprise but he could not stop the wide smile that found its way onto his face.

"I should have expected this from someone as talented as you Yukino! This fight just got interesting!" Charging forward Natsu again swung wildly, missing his target as suddenly the Celestial Mage was right in his face, driving her fist into his stomach, attempting to take the wind out of him.

Luckily for Natsu his muscles took a lot of the brunt. Grunting at the hit, the Fire Dragon Slayer leapt back to gain some space. It was obvious charging in blindly was failing; he needed a new plan of attack. The problem was her slender frame and smaller size made her quick, add to that the years of being a mage building her endurance, and her combat training meaning her hits were deceptively damaging, all accumulated to make her one hell of a tough opponent.

He knew that he was stronger; there was no doubt about that. If he could land some solid hits it should slow her down. The question was how he was going to do that without taking any additional damage himself and breaking up the flow of the fight by being forced to jump back to gain some distance. Although he was someone who did not possess endless amounts of intelligence, he had one of the best minds in Fiore when it came to coming up with strategies while fighting. Deciding on a plan Natsu again charged in, having the appearance that he was once again going for a reckless attack. Seeing this Yukino again prepared to counter, however this attack was never meant for her face.

Natsu had instead swung low, connecting with her legs and taking her off her feet. She landed with a soft thump in the sand, creating a small cloud at the impact. Knowing that staying in this vulnerable state for too long was a sure fire way to lose the bout, the Celestial Mage rolled to the left just in time for Natsu's fist to narrowly miss her face as it imbedded itself into the sand. Quickly rolling again to get out of range, Yukino kicked up eyes slightly widened at the force her opponent was showing, she backed up slightly, trying to gage what to do next.

The two began to circle each other, eyes narrowed in intense focus, all friendship momentarily forgotten as the two braced themselves for another clash. As the two were stalking one another, Rouge turned to Minerva to ask a quick question, not wanting to miss too much of the fight.

"Did you know she was going to pull of something like this?" The Territory Mage offered a sideways smirk at her friend as she still kept her main focus on the participants in the ring.

"No I did not, I did suspect, but I never thought she'd actually go ahead and do it. But I'll say this, I'm glad she did." Rouge gave his leader a questioning glance, trying to get more information out of her; luckily she was in a talkative mood as the action in the ring had yet to pick back up.

"Think about it Rouge, think about who Natsu is as a person. He's very easy to read. Yukino is a very clear girl and you'd know her aims more than most. Put two and two together, she has and that's why we have a nice show for us this morning. I guess that's what comes with having Natsu, turns out having a massively destructive Dragon Slayer has some perks."

Pausing for a moment, the Shadow Dragon Slayer tried to do as instructed but found himself unable to concentrate, the crowd's volume had started to rise when the bout began and right now it was too noisy for problem solving. Leaving his deductions for another time, Rouge decided to ask one last question.

"What did you whisper to Yukino before the start of the fight?" Although her full attention was back on the two battling mages, Rouge still saw her features turn serious for a moment.

"Just some encouragement. Salamander is a fierce opponent with magic or without, although I support her I want Yukino to stay safe and give a good account of herself, that is the most important goal for her right now. Do you have any more questions?" Shaking his head, the Shadow Dragon Slayer gave his full attention back to Natsu and Yukino.

"Good that means we can watch the fight uninterrupted. After Yukino's given such a good account of herself early on, this can only get better."

The two had finished their prowling. Each paused for a brief moment, body tense with the strain of their next moves. The tension continued to build, before finally reaching a critical stage. Sensing this, both combatants charged one another, Yukino jumping and thrusting a kick, while Natsu decided to take it straight in the chest. Absorbing the damage, Natsu grabbed hold of his opponent's leg, using his formidable strength to spin and throw her away. Succeeding, his joy turned to disbelief and frustration when the Celestial Mage corrected herself in mid-air before landing gracefully on her feet.

This was when Natsu did something he only did when pushed, he growled. Yukino had never really been an enemy of Natsu, he was distrustful of her when she approached Lucy at the Grand Magic Games, but he had not been openly hostile, just a little assertive. This Natsu seemed to be balancing between seeing her as an enemy or just another opponent. As soon as her eyes met with burning narrowed ones, the Celestial Mage had to admit it, she was starting to get scared.

His growling grew until it filled the small arena, before Yukino could properly prepare herself, Natsu had moved at a blinding speed to stop directly in front of her with his fist already in mid-swing. Having no chance to block or evade, the Celestial Mage could only take the hit. As soon as the attack connected, crippling pain exploded in her abdomen as she was flung back, all the breath leaving her with a gentle whoosh. Landing, she once again found herself flat out on her back, staring at the ceiling as the entire guild winced in Sympathy.

Looking up from the floor, the Celestial Mage was greeted with the sight of Natsu prowling towards her, eyes almost burning now as he slowly approached. Rising to her knees, Yukino bided her time, waiting for her adversary to get close. As the Fire Dragon Slayer got within a few steps, she athletically hopped to her feet delivering a roundhouse kick to her current challenger's face.

Not expecting his own sneaky tactics to be used against him, it was Natsu's turn to be sent flying. Landing quite a fair distance away, the Dragon Slayer quickly got to his knees, spitting to the side to clear his mouth. Looking down at the contents of his saliva, the Fire Mage was surprised to see blood mixed in with the contents. As the familiar, metallic taste resonated within him, his hand went instinctually to his mouth to touch his lips. Pulling his hand back to his eyes, he found something he could scarcely believe. His hand stained with a crimson red.

His eyes slowly removed themselves from his appendage in search of his enemy. Locking onto her at the other side of the ring, he slowly got to his feet, eyes never leaving her as he wiped the flowing blood from his lips. Looking dead into her eyes, the son of Igneel reared his head back before releasing the loudest draconic roar anyone present had ever heard. It appeared that Natsu had finally reached a whole new level of rage.

Yukino resolutely resisted the urge to tremble. Although she did not want to admit it, she had graduated from scared to being absolutely terrified. Terrified that she had now woken the Dragon, terrified that now Natsu may actually see her as a real enemy now that she had drawn first blood, but most of all, she was terrified at what lay in his eyes. His magic seemed to dislike being banned for physical use, manifesting itself in a different way. It fuelled the maelstrom building in his black irises. All she could see were two flickering red orbs instead of the eyes that usually showed her so much happiness and friendship.

Yet despite her fear, the Celestial Spirit Mage knew she had come too far to even consider calling an end to the match. She was going to push on to the very end, even if she ended up battered and beaten at the finale. Gathering courage, Yukino yelled back her own battle cry. It lacked the ferociousness of Natsu's, nor did it install the feeling of hopelessness that his did. It was however full of hope and determination, and dare she think it, a slight hint of courage.

And despite the fact Natsu was neither scared nor intimidated, even in his state of rage he could hear the fighting intent behind her call. Giving her a single nod of acknowledgement, he prepared himself to take it to the next level. Sensing what was happening, both Rouge and Dobengal turned to Minerva.

"Shouldn't we try to stop this now? We're all impressed by how well Yukino has done but I really think she's got to Natsu now. If we allow this to go on couldn't he seriously hurt her?" Dobengal nodded his agreement at his friend's words, desperate to save the Celestial Mage from a very painful experience. However the Territory Mage did not appear to have the same concerns, she was fully immersed in the fight, not glancing in their direction as she patiently waited what was coming next.

"Stopping the fight now would be pointless. If you want Yukino to never forgive you jump in right now and put a stop to the match." Both were paused at the thought, not quite sure how to respond to the idea of hostility from such a beloved friend. This did not keep them silent for long though, Dobengal pushed on determined to get his point recognised.

"But you never answered Rouge's other point. What happens if Natsu seriously hurts her? I know he's got his heart in the right place but he isn't the smartest guy around, he's obviously going overboard right now. Maybe he doesn't know his limits." He gestured to the ring and everyone around. The guild appeared apprehensive at best at the Fire Dragon Slayer's apparent rage.

Taking her eyes off of the action, Minerva finally gave the two her full attention. Eyeing them both in turn, the Territory Mage answered with assured confidence.

"Natsu would never harm one of us to the point of severe injury. He is actually one of the smartest fighters in Fiore; he knows when he goes too far. After all Fire is destructive by nature, the fact that he hasn't killed anyone yet is testament to his skills. It sounds to me that you doubt our new recruit's ability." She purposefully eyed Rouge as she said her last words before turning back to the action.

"Isn't that part of the reason he left Fairy Tail in the first place?" Both the Shadow Dragon Slayer and the Ninja had the decency to look abashed as they began to watch the fight again. They had to believe that both of their friends knew what they were doing.

It was just as this discussion finished that Natsu his move. Fuelled on by his frustration, the Dragon Slayer started walking forward, blazing eyes never leaving his quarry. Speeding up to a sprint, the Fire Mage leapt towards Yukino sending a whistling fist directly at her face. Not expecting the sheer speed that was generated, the Celestial Mage only just managed to dodge, her face avoiding taking any damage. However her shoulder was not so lucky. Gaining a clip, she stumbled back, her balance teetering, it was her own skill as a fighter that saved her from certain defeat.

Yukino managed to correct herself just in time to jump backwards, once again narrowly avoiding Natsu his fist came down in an attempt at a haymaker. It appeared that he was trying to end the fight by pushing the attack now that she was vulnerable. She did not have time to adjust however, the Dragon Slayer's speed and endurance were second to none and he was proving it here as he kept up the offensive with lightning jabs all over her body.

It was getting increasingly difficult to keep up. She was still managing to dodge one or two of the blows, however she had to mostly rely on her blocking skills and although she had once again shown off some unexpected ability, with every blocked attack her stamina waned and the pain increased. Even slapping away attacks was becoming harder, she had succeeded in her defense for the most part but some attacks had managed to find their mark. She had to take a risk and get back on the offensive or risk defeat.

Readying herself for a possibly disastrous ploy. The Celestial Spirit Mage let Natsu come at her again, crouching down and she let her foe's fist whistle dangerously overhead, feeling the wind ruffle her fair from the sheer force of the punch. As soon as she sensed that the Dragon Slayer had fully extended his arm, Yukino rose, throwing all her weight into a devastating uppercut. She landed the hit directly on his chin, gaining a collect gasp from the onlookers.

Natsu was sent flying back, slamming into the wooden fence before slumping down to the ground, looking like he was sitting tiredly with his face hung low. Murmurs sounded from around the spectators at the sight, had their Celestial Mage defeated a Dragon? Said mage knew she had to push the advantage, yet she could not stop herself from hesitating for just a second as she got lost in her mind. Snapping out of her thoughts, Yukino charged at her downed opponent, determined to end the fight and steal an unexpected win.

As she reached Natsu, she elegantly threw a punch at his face hoping for a knockout, however as her fist closed in on its target, another had sprung forward, catching her attack and stopping it dead. The Fire Dragon Slayer rose from his position, hand still holding the attack of his rival's, eyes storming as he looked her up and down. He towered over her, hand tightening over hers as he executed his next move, tilting his head back; he drove his forehead into the face of the Celestial Spirit Mage, just above the bridge of her nose.

Yukino was sent reeling backwards from the blow as stars began to appear into her vision. It had been a while since she had taken a blow like that, one of such power. As her mind began to clear she realised that Natsu was still holding onto her hand and was in the process of pulling her towards him. Knowing that she had no time to escape his grasp, the Celestial Mage once again prepared to dodge.

Feeling herself get yanked forwards, Yukino executed an exquisite spin avoiding her opponents shoulder barge attempt by a fraction. Spinning back as soon as her feet planted into the floor to avoid her arm being exposed for too long, the Young Summoner drove her elbow into the side of the Pinkette's head, forcing him to let go of her hand as stars appeared in his eyes this time as the blow played havoc with his equilibrium.

Taking a few steps back, the Spirit Mage aimed a jumping kick at her opponent's chest, trying to take him off his feet and secure the battle. However Natsu had seen this coming. Sidestepping the attempt, he rushed forward catching her in mid-air with his punch to the chest sending her cascading to the other side of the arena as she crumbled to the floor. Giving no time to recover, the Fire Mage took a sprinting leap hoping to pin his adversary to the ground.

Yukino had other plans. Opening her eyes and seeing a flying Natsu coming directly for her, Sabre's Celestial Mage raised her legs into the air, using a mixture of her own strength and her opponents momentum to fling him away from her in an attempt to give her time to get to her feet and recover. Much to her dismay this only half worked.

Natsu was certainly sent flying, but instead of crashing into the barricade like she hoped, he instead landed on top taking only a moment to gather himself as the audience backed away, determined not to get caught in the crossfire of the intense bout, especially now that the action had reach all new heights. Turning to face Yukino, he watched as she clumsily got to her feet, staggering ever so slightly as she found her balance. It was time to end this. Preparing himself for a second, the Fire Dragon Slayer leapt forward, determined to finally deal the winning blow.

Instead of connecting with the final attack, Natsu once again found himself flying through the air towards the wooden fence. Yukino had sensed his intent and in desperation had executed a perfect roundhouse kick to his face, sending the poor Slayer on another little flight. Knowing he had to act quickly or lose the bout, he barely managed to correct himself in time before colliding with the fence.

Ignoring the pain coming from his legs from the slightly misjudged landing, Natsu vaulted right back at his adversary, spearing the Summoner in her middle, taking her off her feet. Yukino felt all her breath leave her body as the Fire Dragon Slayer collided with her. She was flung backwards landing on her back, all energy drained as exhaustion finally took over. She could only watch as her opponent pinned her arms to her side using his legs to his advantage as a vice grip practically ensuring his victory. The Celestial Mage watched her opponent as he sat on top of her, trapping her to the ground.

As he gazed back his eyes lost their blazing shine as they softened at the sight of his friend defeated underneath him.

"Do you give in Yukino?"

"I…I give in Natsu-sama." With that Natsu rolled off her, stopping next to her in order to pull her beaten body onto his lap. The two just stayed in their position for a while, staring at the ceiling.

The entire guild was deathly silent as the end finally came. After a few moments of uncertain stillness, Minerva finally hopped the barricade moving over to the two weary fighters. As she approached, she looked over at Yukino, giving her a tender smile before looking over to Natsu. The two looked at each for a while before she nodded at him a smirk appearing on her face. The Dragon Slayer gave a fanged grin in response, leaning back on his arms before looking down to check on Yukino, leaving Minerva to do her thing.

Turning to the rest of the guild the Territory Mage raised her voice in pride.

"Sabretooth I give you your winner, Natsu Dragneel."

With this said the guild erupted into wild cheers and applause. Yes they had been worried and concerned, but they had never expected such an amazing fight. It was truly a testament to their guild that their fighters were so tough even without magic being used. As the noise around them reached a crescendo, Natsu looked down into the face of his friend with a gentle smile gracing his features.

"Well fought Yukino."

The unreadable expression on the face of the Celestial Mage morphed into a soft smile. Reaching up, she wiped away a trickle of blood that was still left from the corner of his mouth before letting her arm drop limply beside herself.

"Well fought, Natsu-sama."

With that the Fire Dragon Slayer hobbled to his feet scoping up Yukino with him. Being too tired to put up any form of protest, the Spirit Mage simply clung to her friend, enjoying the fact that she was both comfortable and safe. After making sure his charge was alright Natsu began to make his way back towards the inside of the guild, determined to find a place for them to rest. Dobengal, Rouge and Minerva all watched on as the two left the arena, their heads held high even in their current state.

"Dobengal, go after them. Make sure they get to the infirmary for a check-up and some rest." Nodding at the Shadow Dragon Slayer's wisdom, the Ninja quickly took off after the two fighters, leaving his friends alone to talk.

"Don't say a word." Minerva smirked at her friend's ire; she loved it when she was right.

"I never said anything. I'm just happy to know you can acknowledge when you're wrong. Pride is such an unattractive thing don't you think?" Giving her an unimpressed look, Rouge ignored the jab deciding it was not worth taking the bait. Turning his eyes in the direction his friends had gone in, his tone took on the familiar sound of relief as he let out a long held in sigh.

"Still it's a good thing you were right. I've never seen Yukino fight like that before. I never knew she had it in her but I'm glad she did. Fighting Natsu is never an easy thing, especially when magic isn't involved; he's one of the best conditioned guys around." A small smile began to tuck at his lips as he had another thought. Giving Minerva a sideways glace, he strained to keep the amusement out of his voice as he turned the tables on her, playing her at her own game.

"Ah well good job we didn't bet any Jewels eh?" With this, Rouge walked away intent on seeing his tired friends, leaving behind an open-mouthed Territory Mage in his wake.

"Urgh I missed out on some free Jewels. That could have gone towards a new dress." She quickly ran after the retreating Dragon Slayer, guessing where he was going and deciding that she wanted to tag along too.

They found them soon after, both lying in different beds opposite each other getting some well-earned rest. Rouge went straight to Natsu, sending a proud smile over to his Celestial friend before striking up a conversation with his fellow Slayer. As the two conversed, Minerva made her way over to Yukino, placing her hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze as their eyes met.

"You did better than I could ever have hoped my dear. You should be proud of yourself." Minerva could not keep the soft smile down as her Spirit Mage's eyes sparkled at the praise she had received.

"As for you Natsu…" The Fire Dragon Slater audibly gulped as the Territory Mage turned her attention to him.

"Thank you for not seriously injuring Yukino, she made you work for it and you even got seriously angry but we're just happy she's okay." Natsu gave her a big grin as he sat up in bed.

"She really did, I thought I'd get a challenge but I never thought she'd push me that far, it's why I got frustrated, oh and you don't have to worry about me hurting Yukino. I'd never do that." The mentioned mage found that a faint blush had appeared at the praise and respect she was being shown, luckily it was ignored by all as Rouge and Minerva had already begun to move towards the door.

"That's what we like to hear, we'll leave you two to rest up. Come down when you're feeling up to it." With that the two left the room, allowing silence to once again fall. Natsu remained upright for a while staring into space, while Yukino appeared to have fallen asleep from the strain she had put herself under, yet that was not the case. She was wide awake going over the fight in her mind, analysing what she needed to do to improve.

"H...hey Yukino?" Did Natsu just stutter? The Celestial Mage pulled herself out of her thoughts as she slowly sat up only to be greeted by the sight of her friend avoiding her attempts at eye contact, rubbing his legs as his eyes remained fixed on them instead of her. "Are you in a team?"

That had caught her a little off guard. It came from nowhere, at least not from a place that made sense to her. Then again this was Natsu; he did have an adorably short attention span. Deciding to think on the actual question, a smile came to her lips. She knew what was coming next.

"No Natsu-sama I'm not at the moment." She let silence fall again, allowing Natsu to chew over the information and gather his confidence.

"Well if… if it's not too much trouble… would you like to be in a team with me?" Her grin grew to encompass her entire face. It was a smile that would lighten up the darkest day but it appeared to be lost on the Fire Dragon Slayer who had gone on to babble at her lack of immediate response.

"You don't have to answer right now and you're free to say no, in fact you'll probably want to. I'm not the best at controlling my magic and I've been told I can be blunt and I'm usually a bit of an idiot, at least that's what everyone tells me. You should probably find someone else. In fact forget I said anything, I have a habit of saying things before I think…" He petered off as Yukino gripped his shoulder, a soft smile on her face as she perched on the side of the bed.

"I'd love to be in a team with you, Natsu-sama!"

The two stared at each other, letting their shared grins do the talking, lost in the comfort of the other's company.

Downstairs Rouge and Minerva were talking quietly to each other, removed from the rest of the guild as their fellows eagerly discussed what had happened in the last hour or so, squealing and shouting about the unexpected entertainment that had come their way. However the two friends refused to join in the afterglow of the fight, they needed their own privacy to discuss other matters.

"What happens now?" The Territory Mage sat back in her chair, contemplating her friend's question.

"I'll be honest I'm not sure. Whatever happens though, can you be there to lend them a hand? They may need some reliable backup" Rouge silently nodded, pleasing the Lady of Sabretooth as she leaned back in her chair with a satisfied grin going over the morning so far in her mind. It was at that moment that Orga and Rufus happened to walk into the guild. Spotting the two quiet mages, they made their way over to them, calling out greetings to others as they strolled through the guild.

"Hey sorry we're late, we were just shopping in town for a while, I take it we didn't miss anything?" Minerva's grin instantly turned feral at the God Slayer's question causing Rouge to roll his eyes, however even he had a slight twitch in his lips at what the Territory Mage was about to do.

"Oh nothing much. Same old, same old. Wake up, breakfast, come to the guild, Yukino challenging Natsu to a non-magical spar, you know the usual." Rufus stood with his mouth wide open at the news, struggling to process what he had just been told, however Orga was a lot slower on the uptake as a pleased look came across his face.

"Oh good! I thought we might have missed something important!" It took a few more seconds for him to realise.

"WAIT WHAT!?"

There it was.

* * *

 **Some advice, writing 13k worth of story is exhausting and should probably be split into 2 chapters, but I hope you enjoyed this!**

 **I went a bit wild on the symbolism side (If you can guess what I'm thinking I'll write a single-pairing story of your choice ;) ) but I think it came together okay, also I apologise if suddenly having Yukino have blue hair. I actually checked the wiki and she had light blue hair in the anime, which is what I based her off, so there will be a continuation error from now on!**

 **Also I want to ask you guys something, now that Yukino and Natsu have formed a team, do you want some chapters about different jobs or would you prefer a time-skip to the next big arc I'm planning? The time-skip will mean I finish the story quicker however the change in relationships maybe a little jarring, while the smaller jobs chapters would mean you get to see development but it will take a long time for the story to finish. I'm stumped about which to go for so I thought I'd ask and get opinions!**

 **As a side note this chapter wasn't meant to have that dream sequence in it, I added it because I didn't think I'd have enough words to justify a chapter with just the fight. I was wrong.**

 **(I'm also planning on changing the name of this story to _Surprised Guilds, Staring and Eyes_ but that's a matter for another time...)**

 **Now onto the reviews!**

 **DisasterMaster0 - Don't worry about ranting, I do it all the time! (And trust me mine last for hours...) Thank you for the positive feedback! And as seen from the story, yeah it was my plan all along to have them form a team, they're his main friends so it just made sense.**

 **Fairy Tail Shu Heller - Definitely not abandoning this don't you worry! And thanks I tried to be fair with what I was saying!**

 **Kript - Thanks, I tried to be balanced. It's always best to try and think about every angle and put the argument through calmly otherwise people can get really offended fast (Particularly when it goes against the common likes of the fandom.)**

 **insanemonkeyboy - Thank you! Actually that's a good point, Hiro said he had plans for more after the current arc so you may actually be spot on. Also I think NaYu is what people use, I'm just as unsure as you are but thank you again! Wish there were more Natsu/Yukino stories out there.**

 **DdraigTrueEmperor9 - I wanted all of my main character to have a little development, it made for what I hope was, some touching scenes and a build on relationships between them all. With Lucy he just needed to have made more of an effort, it was almost like he gave up on development after he made sure NaLu was the most popular ship, really destroyed and chance of likability from people who didn't already like her. Don't worry I understand everything! Doing anything after work is always painful.**

 **DaedricSlayer1337 - Yeah I know, too much of something will start to get on your nerves after a while! It's why there needs to be crack pairings as well as the popular ones.**

 **CraftyWott - It was designed to be in her point of view, when I originally discovered the show on Netflix they even said Lucy was the main character. Also I have no idea where the Lisanna hatred comes from, she's barely in the show enough to constitute hating. But yeah Lucy needed something else to give her an edge, just to help build her character.**

 **John cena - Sorry I couldn't see your review... Couldn't help myself, I really am sorry! Thanks for the compliment, I do believe fan pressure is one part of it, (I'll cover more about that in my analysis this time), but Hiro always planned on having Lucy as his main person. He was never going to change that pairing when it was planned from the start. And defeating Angel was a good moment but she needed more, she needed one win the GMG but instead her personal character development got sidelined for a NaLu moment.**

 **Dank Dang - Thanks! New overly long chapter is up! (I hate myself for making it so long)**

 **PersonaUserOrpheus3245 - Thanks! Yeah needed to make Lucy unlikable this time, glad I managed it!**

 **luckoftheirish2015 - Right here for you!**

 **desdelor97 - Thanks, hopefully this lives up to the rest of my story!**

* * *

 **Before I jump into the analysis this time around I'd like to say a quick thank you to everyone for the positive feedback and even when a user didn't agree and we had a quick chat, It was very respectful and he made some good points. Thank you for that, it's good to know that I can say my opinions and not get attacked for them! (Although I've definitely jinxed it now...)**

 **Also before I start I'd like to say, you are free to ship whoever you want. If it makes you happy then go for it. However I will be discussing ships again so if I accidentally attack a ship you like I'm sorry!**

 **The Ships of Fairy Tail**

 **It's something that I absolutely love and despise about the show, and one of the main reasons I've stopped watching and reading. When done properly the pairings are amazing, adding depth to the characters, helping them out in their own little story arcs. However when it's done wrong it can turn two characters that should be loved, into the most hated characters in the show. So today, I'm going to have a go at looking into the pairings and saying an honest opinion on them all (These will only cover the main ones as this story has already gone on long enough.)**

 **Natsu/Lucy \- I've covered it enough so I'll simply say this. Should have been a BROTP, their relationship should have been the type where it borders on the feeling of family rather than a romantic attachment.**

 **Erza/Jellal \- Before I start ranting I'd like to say I love both of these characters dearly, however I can't condone them being a pairing. It weakens Erza far too much. While Jellal's story makes him one of the best developed characters in the whole show, the fact that Erza can't stop pinning over him is slightly disturbing. Yes she had a crush on him in childhood, but he betrayed her, forced her to abandon her friends (Scaring her for years after, making it so she couldn't open up properly to people until she was literally forced to.) and kept her friends as glorified slaves. Then he proceeds to kill Simon, attempts to kill Natsu, before finally being defeated.**

 **I can fully get behind her forgiving Jellal, especially when it's revealed he was mind-controlled but for a relationship to happen is ridiculous. Realistically she would never forget the pain that he put her through, willingly or not. I know it can be argued that to look past that it takes a strong character, but to me it borders on a unique case of Stockholm Syndrome. It feels like she just can't let go rather than accepting someone else's repentance. It also flies in the face of Simon's sacrifice, insulting both his memory and Kagura.**

 **Finally the argument that it is a cute childhood romance is invalid, otherwise Natsu/Lisanna would be the main pairing of the show not NaLu.**

 **Gray/Juvia \- What upsets me most about this is it would be a good ship if Gray wasn't so much of an asshole. Not only does this ship waste a perfectly good character in Juvia but it literally makes one of the main characters of Fairy Tail to be an unlikable dick. It's not okay to string a person along, never giving a clear, definite answer when they are literally in love with you. I can understand that this is written so we can all get hyped and excited when the two finally come together, but it goes against one of the fundamental don'ts of dating. If you're not interested let them down gently. Honestly there's no argument to redeem Gray. She's been into him since season 1 and was still avoiding her (while not outright rejecting her) at the end of GMG and beyond.**

 **It also turns Juvia into a one-trick pony. Even her bad-ass moments are all to do with her dedication to Gray rather than any other stimulus. It turned one of the strongest woman in the guild into a laughing stock, and it's turned so many people off both her as a character (she's 3rd on the most hated Fairy Tail characters.) and the overall pairing.**

 **Laxus/Mira** **\- Actually this would make sense apart from one thing. They never really interact in the show. The only moment they have is in Tartaros when Mira tells a dying Laxus to not leave her. While this moment is sweet, there needs to be more if they want to pair these two together. Until that point the ship is kind of average at best.**

 **Lisanna/Bickslow** **\- I have no idea where this came from, but honestly it makes me laugh about how random it is. I can't really say anything about it as the two haven't interacted as far as I can remember so I think it was just a case of two minor characters thrown together for the sake of pairing up characters.**

 **Wendy/Romeo \- One that I understand why people put them together, but just like with Mira and Laxus there needs to be more of a connection between the two characters and honestly Wendy has better moments with just about every other character than Romeo. I do reckon this will be tagged on in the end of the show if they do a few years later epilogue style episode, which will be a bit of an insult to both characters if it happens. There should be some dedicated relationship growth or at least the seeds of one. Therefore this pairing is a miss for me.**

 **Lyon/Meredy** **\- What disturbs me about this ship, isn't the age difference. (Although strange to think about at first, they're both adults after the time-skip,) It's the fact that this became popular because (as far as I could see) fans wanted it to happen. Not to bash the fans, but it sounds like fan service that these two got any hints of a romance in the latest arc. While they do share a tentative link through Ur and Ultear, I find this ship to be a bit weird as it has the feel of an uncle dating his niece. While they are not related by blood, I just think these two were thrown together rather than planned to please the people who thought they were cute.**

 **Sting/Yukino** **\- I think I'll forever be divided about this ship. Their personalities do match well, and as it has been pointed out to me, this was what Lucy and Natsu should have ended up being. But on the other side of the coin, not only does it further the Sabretooth is just a less power version of Fairy Tail argument. (Sting=Natsu, Rouge=Gajeel, Minerva=Erza, Yukino=Lucy etc...) But I also can't get around the fact that he was such a dick in the GMG. While I could forgive his arrogance when it concerned Natsu and Fairy Tail (You have to make him hated somehow), I don't think there was a need for him to be so uncaring about Yukino's excommunication. It made his attempts to get her to rejoin Sabre less sincere and forced particularly seeing as she bonded with a lot more people in Fairy Tail than Sabretooth. (Then again with Yukino in Fairy Tail it would once again be a threat to NaLu, as parallels would have been drawn between her and Lucy.)**

 **Gajeel/Levy** **\- This pairing is amazing, which is why I saved it for last. Not only does this help push Gajeel onto becoming the better person he is, but it gives Levy relevancy. Levy is one of the most underrated characters in Fairy Tail and would probably have been one of my top picks for Natsu if she wasn't so damn good with Gajeel. Their moments actually feel authentic and humorous while still being sweet and often romantic. And their moments in the latest arc almost makes the whole thing worth it! (Almost...)**

 **There we go! Sorry I didn't go into as much detail this time but I want to get this out! This will probably be the last Analysis I do unless I'm specifically asked to cover a topic in-depth as it adds a lot of work onto the end of a chapter. I'll get working on the next chapter as soon as possible! See you all next time!**


	6. The First Job

**The First Job**

Natsu stood at the job board scanning over the available quests that he could undertake, Rogue lounging around behind him, stoically as the Fire Dragon Slayer took his time choosing the perfect job. Yukino was off in a corner chatting happily with Minerva with Frosch sat snugly in her lap. The Exceed had decided that he would like to spend some time with its two favourite women, leaving Rogue alone for the time being.

It had been a full day since the fight. Both Natsu and Yukino had needed to rest. Deciding that going on a job was too much like hard work, the two stayed in the guild, conversing with the other members and generally taking the day to just relax and recover. The Fire Dragon Slayer had found it peaceful, what was stranger though was the fact that he actually enjoyed it. It felt homely.

But now the itch to get out and start doing jobs again was greater than ever. The thrill of having a new team to gel and work with was an exciting prospect to the enthusiastic Slayer, hence the situation now. There was just one problem. He had no idea what job to choose.

While ordinarily, he would just pick one that would let him fight, he had a new team to think about. Would they want to go on a job that required brawn over brains? There was only one way to find out. Turning around to his fellow Slayer, Natsu beckoned him over to join him, anxious to speed the whole process along.

"Hey Rogue, what type of job do you and Yukino go on?"

The Shadow Dragon Slayer ran his eyes over the board seeing if there was anything that particularly stood out, before looking away and over to Natsu.

"Well I usually go on fighting jobs with either Sting or Minerva; it's what we're best at. I think Yukino usually stays away from the fighting ones although she does do them on the occasion. She usually covers everything from entertainment to the ones that require intelligence."

Natsu nodded along to what Rogue was saying, a thoughtful expression on his face. If he was honest with himself, he really wanted a good fight. It had been a while since he was able to use his magic for a job and it was begging to be released, yet he wanted Yukino to be comfortable with what they were doing, not to be put off ever going on a quest with him again.

"Do you reckon she'll want to go on a fighting one now?" Rogue could only chuckle at the hopeful tone of the Fire Dragon Slayer's voice. He glanced over in the direction of the last remaining member of his new team to find her still talking happily with Minerva; Frosch still curled up in her lap.

"Hey, Yukino! Can you come over here for a second please?" The Celestial Mage looked up from her conversation to give a polite smile to her patiently waiting teammates.

"Sure Rogue-sama, I'll be right there!"

Picking up Frosch, Yukino made her way over to the two Slayers giving them both a curious glance, before hugging the Exceed in her arms causing it to snuggle closer enjoying the attention. It went unnoticed that the Shadow Dragon Slayer's eye twitched slightly at the attention his partner was receiving, forcibly restraining himself from snatching the feline out of his friend's arms and back into his own. He was snapped out of his thoughts when The Spirit Mage spoke up.

"How can I help you Rogue-sama?" Indicating to the older Dragon Slayer next to him Rogue stepped back to allow Natsu to speak. Yukino's eyes skipped over to him, the corner of her lips rising ever so slightly. It looked to her that he may have done the same but she was unsure if what she saw was real or just her eyes cruelly deceiving her.

"Hey Yukino, I was trying to choose a job for us to do but then I thought you may not want to do a fighting one, so I thought I'd ask you so you didn't feel left out. What do you want to do?"

She was touched by the thought. Natsu was one of those people who always meant well but more often than not he would get caught up in some harebrained scheme and ended up not always thinking things through. To be one of the exceptions to this was touching. A comforting warmth began to spread throughout her. She graced him with one of her shy smiles before responding, not a shred of doubt in her voice.

"I don't mind going on a more active quest Natsu-sama. It's been a while since I used my magic in a fight; I don't want to get rusty do I?" Natsu gave her a fanged grin before grabbing her hand and forcing her to stand next to him, before turning to grab Rogue and drag him forward, conveniently missing the red that had tainted the Celestial Mage's cheeks.

"Awesome! Right then we need to find one that will give us a good fight! Everyone get looking!"

While Yukino smiled at his enthusiasm, Rogue went back to his stoic features as he began his search, quickly taking Frosch back from his friend and attempting to hide the small smile of satisfaction that crossed his face now that his Exceed was back with him.

After a minute of searching, complemented with the occasional groan from Natsu who was increasingly finding himself disappointed at the results he was finding, it was Rogue who found one that caught his eye. Grabbing it he quickly got the other two's attention, showing them the job.

"How about this one? Seems to be our best option."

Looking at the sheet of paper in front of them, Natsu and Yukino found that a dark guild had been terrorising a small town for some time, the people had grown desperate and were now hoping that one of the bigger guilds in Fiore could possibly help. According to reports, there were some capable wizards that called this guild their home, enticing the Fire Mage with the promise of a challenge.

"This sounds perfect! What's the name of the guild?" In his excitement Natsu had neglected to read the rest of the pamphlet, however, Yukino was more level-headed. Hearing her friend's excited call she quickly browsed over the information again to see if it held what she was looking for.

"It's a guild called Shadow's Crest Natsu-Sama! They're terrorising a town called Everbloom. I think that is quite a distance away, we'll have to get a train."

At the mention of his most hated form of transportation Natsu immediately turned green, frantically searching about for a way to escape the job before anyone could stop him. He vaguely noticed that Rogue seemed to be doing the same, clearly, his fellow Slayer had refrained from reading the rest of the description as well and was now in the same boat as him. Before the two could make their escape, a hand gently gripped their shoulders. Turning back around they were met with Yukino, eyes wide while managing to somehow pull off an innocently worried look freezing them both in place.

"Oh, don't... don't you want to go on the job anymore?"

Rogue and Natsu both looked at each other and cursed on the inside. How could they say no when Yukino was looking at them with such a fragile look. They both looked down at their feet before they both muttered simultaneously.

"No we still want to go, we can't wait." Immediately their Celestial Mage began to beam before she turned around and began to walk back towards Minerva, calling over her shoulder as she practically skipped back to her acting Guild Master.

"Great! Me and Minerva-sama will be getting ready we'll meet back her in an hour or so, I can't wait!"

Both of the Slayers watched as Yukino grabbed their Master and dragged her out of the guild with a huge smile on her face. Realising that there was no longer any escape, Rogue hugged Frosch closer to himself, the cat patting his cheek in a way it hoped was a comfort. Smiling down at the effort the Shadow Dragon Slayer began to move towards the exit of the guild calling back to Natsu.

"I'm going to get ready too, may as well prepare for what's coming." With one more shudder, he left his now paling friend to his own preparations as he moved out of sight and back towards his own home. The Fire Dragon Slayer looked around the guild once before heading out as well. Hoping that some fresh air may help alleviate his concerns for his immediate predicament, Natsu began the short trek back to his home.

As soon as he stepped outside, the dread began to drain out of him as he embraced the outside world. After growing up living off the land, it was difficult for him not to draw a degree of comfort from being back in nature, even if it was in the middle of a bustling town centre.

He slowed his pace right down in order to browse and enjoy the atmosphere. Many people recognised him, sending him greetings as he had a quick look around the markets. He gladly sent his own back, engaging them in his usual enthusiastic manner, bringing smiles to all the locals he greeted.

It made for a heart-warming walk back home, opening his front door, Natsu immediately dived head first into the comfort of his sofa, snuggling down as he tried to think if he needed to pack anything. The only thing he could think of was possibly a singular change of clothes and some money, his thought process saying that this job was going to be a shorter one.

It took a matter of moments to gather what he wanted for the trip. Walking back into town he once again browsed around quickly keeping more to himself this time and not drawing the attention of everyone. He had no use for shopping most of the time, however, it appeared that there were some shops he was interested in scattered around. He would have to go come back another time.

Hurrying back to Sabretooth, he was not surprised when he walked back into the guild and found that he was the first one to return. Settling down to a table and starting a conversation with one of the random guild members who were around, his mind drifting back to his teammates who were currently getting ready. His mind slipping into thoughts of Yukino without his notice, hoping that she was going to arrive back soon.

Said Celestial Mage was currently in her bedroom, talking with Minerva as she neatly packed some clothes into a bag. A smile was on her face; however, it was obvious to see the nervousness behind it. It was one of the reasons she had dragged her friend with her to her home. She needed someone to talk to.

"Thank you for coming with me Minerva-sama, I guess I needed someone to talk to before I set off. I'm a little nervous about going on a job that requires fighting. It's been a while since I had to do one."

Minerva flinched as a brief reason as to why her fellow guild member may dislike fighting flickered through her mind, although she had not been there when Yukino went through the worst embarrassment of her life, the Territory Mage doubted she would have done anything even if she had been present. That was just who she was back then and she was very glad she was trying her best to change.

However dwelling on the pain her mistakes caused was never going to help her get over them, especially when everyone involved had forgiven her. Snapping back into the conversation, Minerva relaxed onto her friend's bed as she fretted, a calm smirk on her face as she began to reassure the more timid side of their Celestial Mage.

"Yukino, you're a capable Mage. I'm pretty sure you're going to be fine fighting, you'll hold your own perfectly, I think you've proven that to just about the whole guild already."

Despite the wise words, Yukino still seemed to doubt herself. Pulling her keys out of her belt, she stroked them as she moved in front of her full-length mirror, looking over her reflection as she forced herself not to pace the entire room. Spinning on her heels she once again faced Minerva before she once again stroked her keys, her eyes slightly misty as she answered.

"But that was a non-magic fight Minerva-sama. Although I feel like I did well, that doesn't mean I'm going to be amazing when it comes down to fighting other magic users. I love my magic Minerva-sama; I've met so many amazing people and so many spirits through it that I could never hate it."

She paused briefly as images of Natsu, Lucy, Mira, Sting, and Rogue, as well as others, flashed through her mind. All the friends she met, all the adventures she had already experienced. Coming out of her mind, her small smile turned into a frown as she readied herself to continue.

"But that doesn't mean I don't know its limitations, as I said to Natsu-sama it's the reason I requested to have a non-magic fight in the first place, I didn't want to get brushed aside as if I was a dark guild grunt. My magic leaves me vulnerable at close range, if anything gets by my spirits it's just me and my opponent. I'm good at close range but if someone has their magic as well as hand-to-hand skill, I'm not going to last long."

She turned back to her mirror, hanging her head at her already imagined failure, the fight with Kagura appearing in her mind as she remembered what it was that ultimately cost her that fight. She was so deeply ingrained in her thoughts that she failed to notice Minerva stand and move over to her, putting her hands on her shoulders as she gazed into the reflection of her friend's eyes.

"Yukino." The Celestial Mage only stirred slightly, her responses slow from self-doubt.

"Yukino, look at me."

She finally glanced up, locking eyes with the Territory Mage in the mirror, finding solace yet a fierce sense of determination hidden in their depths. She relaxed slightly as Minerva pressed on.

"Every magic has its weaknesses, if you want to look at an obvious one look at Dragon Slayer magic, it's one of the most aggressive and highly powered ones but it comes with a cost. It's easy to destroy just about anything and it can corrupt without the correct countermeasures, look at what happened to Acnologia."

Yukino nodded slightly as she remembered the description Sting and Rogue had given her after the Tartaros incident. They talked about their dragons and where they had been and how Acnologia came about.

"Some magic can even corrupt people, look at Rogue, for instance, his magic is literally darkness and he was the one Dragon Slayer currently around Fiore who turned evil in the future, but look at him now. Successfully over the event and moving forward with his life, even taking the time to help others out despite his personal struggles."

A smile found its way onto both of their lips at the thought of Rogue starting to come out of his shell and be happier than he had been in a long time.

"There are more examples I can think of, instead I'll leave you these words to think about. Everything has its weaknesses, but what makes us strong is our ability to carry on and fight through them. Even if we fail we have people to help pick us back up, that's what teams are for."

An image of her current team flashed through Yukino's mind. Natsu stood in front of her, hand on her wrist dragging her along to an unknown adventure while Rogue followed on behind, shaking his head while smirking with Frosch perched on his shoulder. It was an image she hoped would stay with her forever.

"Even if you're having doubts about your ability never forget that you have friends who believe in you and want you by their side, no matter what. I can think of no better indication that you're wanted for your strength of personality and magic than having someone ask you to start a team with them."

Turning to face Minerva, Yukino gently embraced the older woman, shocking her slightly as she laid her head on her shoulder. It took her a second, but the Territory Mage soon wrapped her arms around her friend to draw her in tightly, embracing her right back again.

"Thank you, Minerva-sama." Looking down she saw Yukino looking up at her with a radiant smile, eyes slightly watery as she gave her friend a look of great fondness.

"You have nothing to thank me for; I'm simply doing what any good guild leader should do. Tell the truth to their members and make sure they have confidence in themselves." Rubbing the Celestial Mage's back lightly, Minerva grasped her shoulders one more time before moving away from the mirror to take her seat back on the bed.

"Oh, by the way, I'll have to hurt you if you mention our conversation to anyone else, just a warning." Yukino smiled at the words, already picking up on the lack of heat in her tone, yet she was not able to dwell for long before Minerva spoke up again.

"Enough of that for now though, you have an adventure to pack for and you may want to hurry. While I doubt he'd leave you behind it's probably best not to keep an impatient Dragon Slayer waiting for too long. We can afford to be fashionably late of course."

Yukino seemed to have missed the last part though as she whirled around to check her clock finding that it had already been forty-five minutes since she left Sabretooth for her home. Groaning at her poor time keeping, The Celestial Mage started to speed up, neatly but hastily packing before finally finishing with a sigh of relief. Grabbing Minerva's hand, she dragged her out of her apartment, locking her front door before continuing where she left off, grabbing her friend's hand and setting off towards Sabre once again.

With Yukino rushing them along, trying and get back to the guild on time, the two mages got back just inside of the hour threshold, the Celestial Mage herself set. Letting go of Minerva's hand and taking a quick look around the guild, her eyes soon found Rogue lounging around fussing over Frosch, making sure his Exceed would be okay for travelling. Moving over to her friend, she was quick to start up a conversation.

"Hello, Rogue-sama. I take it you're ready to go?" The Dragon Slayer nodded at his friend, petting his partner as he answered her.

"Yeah I think we have everything we need, we've got everything don't we Frosch?" Every eye turned to the feline, including Minerva's who was on her way to her office while rubbing her wrist, just happening to get caught up in the conversation as she passed by.

"Frosch thinks so too!" Everyone smiled at the cheerful Exceed as Rogue picked it up off the floor, placing his partner on his shoulder. Despite how cute the winged cat was being, Yukino saw that there was still one member of their team that was missing. The person who had started all this in the first place.

"Rogue-same where is Natsu-sama?" Looking around for a brief second, the Shadow Dragon Slayer soon spotted their missing teammate. Pointing over in his direction the Celestial Mage followed his directions and caught a sight that made her pause for a second. Natsu was chatting to some of the local girls in the guild.

The group laughed at something that the Dragon Slayer said and something weird happened to Yukino. She suddenly felt a strange heaviness in her chest, one she had never experienced before. Gasping at the sudden pain she lurched slightly worrying Rogue and Frosch as they looked on not quite sure what was going on inside her mind.

The pain was soon replaced by a more familiar feeling. Self-loathing started to sprout inside her as her eyes remained fixed on the scene before her. What was even more aggravating to her was that she was hating herself for the fact that she was slipping back into her old practices. She idly laughed bitterly at the thought that the possibility of regression was happening because of one moment.

This, however, sat poorly with her. Yukino bravely fought through these feelings crushing her self-loathing with the words of her friends playing in her head. In normal circumstances it would have been enough to get a smile out of her, unfortunately, though, the weight in her chest still refused to leave, causing a small frown to form on her face.

As she was thinking about what to do next, the whole table laughed again, the girls standing up to leave all grinning wildly at the conversation they just had, one, in particular, walked up to Yukino before taking her to one side quickly a mischievous smirk dancing on her face.

"You know that he wouldn't stop talking about how great you are for the first half of our conversation. I think you're in there! Try and close the deal quickly, I reckon some of the people here wouldn't mind stealing him away for themselves."

With one last wink at the Celestial Spirit Mage the girl walked off further into the guild, leaving a blushing Yukino stuttering in her wake, Rogue grinning a few meters away. Giving her friend an inquisitive look, the Shadow Dragon Slayer just grinned wider before tapping his ears once, causing her to groan audibly.

"Hey Yukino, why are you groaning? Everything's alright isn't it?" Jumping with a small squeak, The Celestial Mage spun around coming face to face with Natsu, face still flushed from the joint effort of the surprise and pep talk. Stuttering was all she could manage, only serving to further the concern of the Dragon Slayer in front of her.

Cupping her cheek and looking over her form frantically, Natsu tried to find any indication as to what was wrong with his friend, seeming to miss that the rest of her face had turned the same marvellous shade of red. He was so focused on his work, he failed to see or Rogue call over Minerva and point out the two of them, grins etched on their faces as they enjoyed the show they were getting.

Yukino seeing that they were both just standing there doing nothing, sent them a pleading look, utilising her puppy dog eyes to full effect. Both Rogue and Minerva gave each other a sideways glance, before the Territory Mage nudged her friend in the ribs, causing him to sigh before going over to help.

Placing his hand on his fellow Dragon Slayer's shoulder Rogue, grabbed his attention halting his check-up of Yukino causing said Mage to finally sigh in relief at the embarrassing position she was in.

"Hey, Natsu! Are we heading off on this job or not? For once I think I could use a good fight!" At the mention of a fight, the Fire Dragon Slayer's interest immediately spiked. Letting go of Yukino he bounded over to his former table grabbing his lightly packed bag and sprinted back to the two now calm mages.

"Hell yeah! I'm so ready for this! Are we all ready?" With a nod from both of his teammates, Natsu jumped in the air with his fist raised a massive grin covering his face.

"Alright! Team Natsu Sabre edition is ready to kick ass! Let's go!" With that, the Fire Dragon Slayer charged out of the guild to laughter from the guild, leaving a slightly flummoxed but amused Yukino and a pouting Rogue.

"I thought maybe we could've called ourselves Team Rogue." The Shadow Dragon Slayer muttered to himself, getting a smile from his friend in sympathy.

"Come on Rogue-sama, let's go Catch up with him, maybe he'll let you rename the team." With a nod in response, the still slightly brooding Dragon Slayer led the way out of the guild and after their wayward team member.

It took next to no time to catch up with Natsu. He was waiting on the nearest street corner, foot tapping impatiently, arms crossed and a grimace on his face. He perked up immediately when he saw his teammates approaching however, this soon turned to shock when he discovered Rogue wanted a name change for the team.

They all set off together as the two Slayers argued, drawing the attention and amusement of the locals as they made their way to the train station. The disagreement had gone on for the full trip however just as they reached the station, they finally came to a fair compromise.

The now named Team Yukino made their way into the actual train station itself, their now appointed namesake, a bit embarrassed at the compromise but at the same time a little proud two of the most powerful mages had no qualms with naming their team after her. Things were not as smooth for the two Dragon Slayers, however.

Both Natsu and Rogue had begun to pale at the realisation that there was nothing to distract them from the reality of the train they were going to board. Both of their heads dropped as they began to drag their feet, looking like two unfortunate souls on their last legs, ready to fall into the grave at any moment.

Yukino, however, seemed to fail to notice the deteriorating mood of her two friends. All her nervousness had given way to excitement as adrenaline kicked into her veins spreading throughout her body like wildfire. This was it; she was going on a fighting quest after being out of action for so long.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts she hardly registered the fact that she was now on the correct platform staring directly at the train she needed until the voices of her fellow passengers boarding woke her up from her daze.

Looking behind to see what became of her two friends, she found both Natsu and Rogue, sending death glares directly at the train, both secretly hoping that the combined power of their intent was going to derail the thing, rendering it useless for travel, however, it was wishful thinking at best. The train still stood there, unmoving as if it was taunting them, knowing that eventually, they would have to get on.

Yukino simply let out a small giggle at their behaviour, walking past them so she was stood behind both of her teammates, she gave them both a little shove forward to try and get them moving towards their transport.

They both stumbled forward, glancing behind to now see their teammate marshalling them onto the death trap in front of them. Glancing at each other, both Slayers gave a single nod before stepping onto the train, finding their own seats as Yukino followed not too far behind. Looking at her two nervous friends, the Celestial Mage was about to say some words of encouragement however as she opened her mouth, the train lurched slightly as the journey began, causing both Dragon Slayers to immediately flop over in their seats, faces green as the famed travel sickness took over.

Seeing both her friends clutching each other for support, Yukino felt a mixture of amusement and slight disappointment. The image of the two powerful Slayers uselessly trying to support each other while half passed out was too funny to not giggle at, however with both of them being incapacitated; it meant it was going to be a very lonely and boring couple of hours until they reached their destination.

Sighing a bit at her thoughts, Yukino stared out of the window as the scenery began to fly past. Sensing that she needed some company more than Rogue at that moment, Frosch happily waddled over to the Celestial Spirit Mage before hopping into her lap and settling in for the journey. Looking down at the Exceed with a gentle smile, Yukino began to pet the feline's head relaxing as she laid back in her seat. It was going to take a couple of hours to get to Everbloom; she may as well take a nap to pass the time.

Closing her eyes and snuggling with Frosch, the naming member of the team began to drift off into slumber, the words of Minerva ringing in her ears, giving her hope that this job would not be as bad as she originally imagined. Still, something felt slightly off. Her last thoughts before sleep took her was a sense of foreboding about this quest.

Luckily for both the Dragon Slayers, Yukino had awoken before the train had pulled into Everbloom and was able to complete the last leg of their journey awake. This meant when the train did eventually pull into the station she was able to drag both of her teammates off the train and to the safety of the ground.

Rogue was a bit unsteady rising to his feet, legs shaking slightly as he fought to control his still spinning vision, however after about a minute this soon cleared up and he gave his friend a smile, sending a quick 'thank you' her way for the help. Natsu, however, had a less reserved reaction.

As soon as his feet touched the earth he immediately fell onto his knees turning towards Yukino before he shouted out what had been building since he first boarded the train.

"Oh, sweet Mavis yes! I'm finally off that death trap! Thank you Yukino you beautiful goddess, you got me off that hell hole. I've never met such a kind hearted angel in all my life. I love you forever!" With this said, Natsu finally collapsed into a ball, sobs of joy coming from him while Yukino's face heated up in record time while Rogue looked around embarrassed at the attention they were getting.

"Er Natsu-sama? People are looking at us; shouldn't we get going and do the job?" With the reminder that they were in this town for a reason, Natsu immediately hopped to his feet, sobbing a thing of the past as he focused on the task at hand, his apparent change in demeanour getting an incredulous look from his fellow Slayer who muttered under his breath at the bizarreness if his teammate. However, the Fire Dragon Slayer seemed to miss this as he was busy talking to Yukino about their plans.

"Of course the job! Right we need to get on with it! It's been ages since I punched someone!" This time it was the Celestial Spirit Mage who gave him a concerned look, had he really forgot that they had sparred quite recently? Then again he was never the most attentive person. A stray thought flickered through Yukino's mind that maybe he meant that going a day without a fight was far too long a time.

While most people would usually groan at this realisation, a smile played on the face of the Summoner. It was just so Natsu, how could she not grin even slightly at the thought of him charging in like an idiot and somehow still succeeding despite the odds? For her, it was an impossibility.

"Er, where are we going now?" Rogue once again groaned before making his way over to his friend, giving him a quick slap on the back of the head, while steadfastly ignoring the now giggling Yukino while he adorned a face of long suffering.

"We're going to the mayor's office Natsu, that's who usually posts these types of jobs." The Fire Dragon Slayer nodded, laughing at his own forgetfulness. Starting to look around he finally took in the town that they had travelled to.

It was exceedingly obvious why it was called Everbloom. Every house had flowers covering the walls in a variety of colour, turning their blank canvases into expressive pieces of nature. Whether they be hung from pots in shelves or tangled into some skilfully groan moss, every house had its own unique feel. If it was not for the diligent effort of the townsfolk, it could easily switch to look more like nature had reclaimed the town. However, through the locals' constant care, it quite literally flourished.

The town actually featured many spaces of plants for decoration as well, different sections of earth holding different colours to try and inspire a range of moods in between the different houses and shops. There were the more soft colours, attempting to install a feeling of peace and tranquillity in its visitors. Further on, there were sharper and more vibrant colours, hoping to give energy and happiness to whoever crossed its path. By the way, there were many children laughing and playing in it, this garden appeared to be more popular among the youth of the town.

Even the streets had their own form of vegetation. Grass appeared to be growing in the gaps of the pavement, however, what was strange was that it had not damaged the walkways in the slightest. Instead, it just added a bright green to compliment the dullness of the stone. The whole town was truly a natural phenomenon.

All Team Yukino could do was stand still, mouths agape taking in the one of a kind vision this small, out of the way town was freely giving. Even the air was thick with the scent of flowers all combining to have a strangely pleasant aroma, easing any worry and stress from the people who experienced such a place.

It crossed all of their minds how much the locals must love living here, taking a look at the townsfolk strolling around they saw a sea of happy, smiling faces. However, on closer inspection, it became apparent that something was wrong. The smiles never reached the eyes, causing the faces to seem more strained than happy. Their body language was also telling, although many strived to appear casual, the stiffness to their walking and the way their glances moved from side to side hinted at a deeper trauma.

With grim faces, the three mages were reminded why they had come to this town in the first place. It may be a natural wonder but it was still under threat by a dark guild. All three nodded to each other before setting off into the centre of town, determined to finally get the job underway.

However, despite their focus, the town's charms were not lost on them. The houses were all beautiful cottages, thatched roofs decorating the tops with flowers skilfully woven into them. It seemed everything in this town was a display for the beauty of nature.

Pressing on they passed through a small market, only a handful of stalls made up the town's main source of shopping however it had everything the locals needed. Food stalls were dotted amongst flower stalls, blending to give an irresistible aroma, while other smaller stalls holding such items as trinkets and books completed the more visible shops. There, of course, were some buildings as well, workshops and a blacksmith to create furniture and other necessities while the others held unknown items waiting to be explored when the job was done.

It was quaint to be sure, and even Natsu seemed impressed by its design. Yet they could not dawdle. Ignoring the friendly shouts of the stall keepers and customers, Team Yukino ploughed on through the town making their way to what appeared to be the town hall.

Luckily they seemed to be on the right track when they discovered that the building they were making their way towards actually had a sign letting them know they were right in their guessing. It was no great shock, however; they had made their way to the one building that stood out amongst the rest. Made entirely of stone and slate, it was a lot more like the houses the three were accustomed to seeing. Steps leading up to a stylish grand hall, complete with the usual giant clock just under the roof, this was similar to a plethora of other halls where they met with town leaders to discuss their jobs.

Taking initiative, Natsu walked straight up the stairs and into the hall, looking about to see where he may need to go. Spotting a desk with a man sat behind his head in his palm as his arm rested lazily on the table, the Fire Dragon Slayer walked straight over to him intent on getting the information he wanted. As he opened his mouth to talk, Rogue quickly jumped in sending a wicked smirk to his fellow Slayer and getting a glare in response.

"Hey, we're here for the job you posted?" The man slowly raised his head to eye the new arrivals with disinterest, however upon seeing their faces, he sat bolt upright, eyes widening with the realisation of who the people stood in front of him actually were.

"Erm... yes of course you are, you must be here for the mayor yes? I'll just go and fetch her for you, be right back." With that, the man shot up out of his seat, disappearing down a nearby corridor faster than any of them thought he would be able to move. Standing there Team Yukino looked dumbstruck for a second, not really sure what they should be doing apart from standing around awkwardly.

Luckily it was only a short wait before a door slammed somewhere deeper in the hall, footsteps rapidly approached as the man came back with a woman in tow. She had on a rather sharp black suit, covering her petite frame and making her look all business, however, her face told of an entirely different attitude. Soft green eyes scanned the three as she grinned widely as recognition dawned on her. Not a wrinkle marred her face and the group realised she was probably only a few years older than them. It was quite the achievement that at her age she was already running a town. However, there was not much time to dwell on these facts as the Mayor spoke out rather excitedly at the group.

"When we put out that request I never guessed we'd get so many talented mages, please follow me!"

With that, she rushed away down the hall, long auburn hair flowing behind her as she practically sprinted back to her office. Leaving behind three mages who were even more stunned than before. As all three looked at each other, unsure of what their next move should be, Natsu shrugged before making his way to the Mayor's office, Rogue and Yukino following closely, not intent on getting lost this earlier on in their job.

As they entered the office, the first thing that hit them was the scent of pollen lying heavily in the air. Looking around it became apparent as to why. Every flower they had seen on their short journey through town had a home inside this cosy room. Although there was only one of each, it was almost blinding to look at the many different colours that her bouquets brought out, a lot of them violently clashing with one another.

Amongst all these flowers was an ornate mahogany desk, complete with a large chair behind and quite conveniently, three in front for guests. Sitting down in her seat, the Mayor beckoned for everyone else to get comfortable as well. Yukino gave the woman a shy smile, sitting down with grace however the two Slayers were having a rather difficult time in this office.

Their sensitive noses doubled the effects of the pollen on the poor souls, making them both feel light-headed as they both swayed in place, desperately trying to find their way to the chairs, wobbling about unsteadily as they clawed their way towards their goal.

Rogue was luckily able to get into his seat without major problems, he still looked to be fighting to keep his attention on the Mayor but he seemed to be succeeding. Natsu, however, was different. He was far too unsteady on his feet and began to tilt to the side as he slowly started to fall; however before he hit the ground, two soft arms wrapped around him and kept him steady. Looking up for his saviour he found the worried face of Yukino looking back. She quickly changed to a smile as she guided him over to the remaining chair, helping him sit down before patting his back in sympathy for his plight, earning a girlish giggle from Everbloom's Mayor as she accidentally drew attention back onto herself.

Blushing slightly as all present turned their attention to her, the Mayor quickly got over her brief embarrassment as the smile from earlier came back with full force.

"When I put up that request I didn't expect to get some of Sabretooth's finest and not just that but the Salamander as well!" This got a different reaction from all three members to Team Yukino, Rogue maintained his usual stoic expression although, if closely observed you could see a slight curvature in the edges of his lips. The team's naming member gave an embarrassed smile, still processing being referred in the same sentence as both of her friends, while Natsu wore a massive grin, a trickle of pride making its way throughout his body.

"I hope it's not too inappropriate of me to ask but why are you with the Sabretooth mages Salamander? I watched the Grand Magic Games and I read the Sorcerer's Weekly, I know who belongs to which guild. You're Fairy Tail through and through. Not to sound ungrateful, I'm actually thrilled you came, but why are you here?"

As Rogue and Yukino eyed their friend in the corner of their eyes, Natsu's grin noticeably lost its brightness, being replaced with a more subdued grimace. Noticing the change in all three of her guests, the Mayor was quick to backpedal, attempting to undo the unknown error she had just made in asking.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend, please you don't have to-" She was cut off by Natsu raising his hand to gently bring her rambling to a close.

"It's no problem at all, Sting just wanted to spend some time with his new partner and Sabretooth needed someone to fill the gap that he left until he returned. I'm just helping out some friends." While technically true, the Mayor still could sense there was more to it then her client was letting on. Both Rogue and Yukino still held what appeared to be concern in their eyes as they carefully monitored the Salamander and although he had recovered, she could still see the slightest hint of sadness in his eyes.

A sudden thought ran through the Mayor's head as she began to move the topic along. Going quite red at the realisation she quickly spoke up in a timid voice.

"Oh yes, I just realised I never actually gave you my name did I? Just so you know my name is Rika. It's a pleasure to meet you all!" Holding her hand out, she shook each of their hands, in turn, her grin slowly reforming with each shake. Rogue opened his mouth to introduce them all he was however cut off as Rika continued on, leaving him stuck with his mouth open, glaring at his two teammates who were giving him looks of amusement.

"And of course I know each and every one of you too! The Shadow Dragon Slayer Rogue Cheney, one-half of the Twin Dragons and part of the reason Sabretooth was so successful as a guild! Yukino Agria the Celestial Spirit Mage, one of the few mages left who practise this particular magic, and holder of the thirteenth gate key, so awesome! And of course Natsu Dragneel, Salamander of Fairy Tail and the one who always destroys things on his jobs! Er, if you can avoid doing that while you're here that would be great..."

While Natsu stewed at what Rika knew him for, Yukino blushed at the compliments heaped on her as Rogue held in a laugh while shooting Natsu a big grin. It was always fun when the tide turned back in your favour. However, they all soon gave the Mayor their attention again as she finally appeared to get serious. Sitting up in her chair as her eyes darkened slightly at the business she was about to discuss.

"By now I'm sure you all know what's been going on here, we're being harassed by a dark guild calling themselves Shadow's Crest. While no one has been seriously injured yet, there have been many incidents. Attacks and robberies seem to be their aim, taking anything of value and sending a message out to our town."

All three of them nodded at the explanation Rika was giving them, it sounded similar to previous jobs they had all been on, a new Dark guild trying to establish themselves, picking on a small target, nothing too far out of the ordinary.

"It's getting to the point where people don't want to visit Everbloom, which is a huge problem for us. Although we don't rely on tourism, it's still an important part of our economy. The fascination with our plants brings in a lot of money; it practically pays for its own maintenance and gives us a good amount of profit."

After saying this, Rika's expression turned sorrowful, all the business draining away as for the first time in the conversation, she looked well past her age.

"But most importantly our people are the worst affected. Not only have a lot been threatened and even attacked, it's the mental strain that worries me. I don't know if you noticed or not on your way here but they are starting to fear when the next attack's coming, I can see it in their eyes. They've been hoping for a long time for someone to come along to help out."

She glanced at every one of them in turn, eyes pleading as she finally showed all her pent up desperation.

"Will you help us? Please? My people are starting to get desperate and I'm not sure where else to turn."

Strangely it was Yukino who beat the two Slayers to the punch, instantly moving to console the Mayor. Her voice strong but laced with a portion of compassion as well.

"Don't worry Rika-sama; of course we'll help you. We'd never turn our backs on people in need!"

The Mayor's face immediately lit up at the words, a grin rivalling Natsu's spread across her lips as she charged forward and skidded across her desk grasping the hands of each of them and shaking them heartily. All three of them noticing she seemed to be a lot stronger than she originally looked.

"Oh thank you, thank you! You have no idea how much this means to the town! I've already had a whirl around to see how much we could raise for payment, I even donated myself! But anyway you don't need to know that, we raised one million Jewels for you!"

Team Yukino gaped at the amount; they had expected a reasonable amount but not that much. The people of this town must have been quite very well off to afford that. Or maybe the situation was worse than they originally thought.

"Oh, you probably want some more information before you go! Yes more about Shadow's Crest." Moving back behind her desk, Rika retook her seat, getting back into business mode as she addressed the mages present.

"We're only a small town, pretty far away from other civilisation here; although it is possible to both drive and walk here it's generally a trip most prefer to make on a train. Because of this, we don't get many mages here, apart from the odd visiting one, so I'm afraid I can't tell you if the mages you'll face they're powerful or not compared to what you are used to. To us, they seem immensely powerful."

Nodding in understanding, the mages waited as Rika got lost in her thoughts briefly. The Mayor, realising she still had a job to do, forcibly pulled herself out of her mind and back into the present to continue addressing her clientele.

"You'll find them a short ways out of town, there's an old, gigantic building there, no one is quite sure what it was used for or why it was built but they took it over as their base of operations due to its size. It's impossible to miss; you'll be able to see it from the road."

Team Yukino all nodded as one, committing the information to memory as they mulled over the task at hand.

"If you need any more information don't be afraid to ask, my office will be open to you at all times!" Rika moved from behind her desk, restraining her usual excitement while going to shake each of their hands. All three gave her a smile and goodbye as they turned to walk out. As they reached the doorway the Mayor called out one last time.

"Oh by the way if you're looking for a place to stay tonight, the hotel is by the train station. Don't worry about paying for your rooms we've already had that covered. Oh and if you could tell that oaf outside to stop slacking that would be great!"

They all chuckled as they left, closing the door behind them and leaving the Mayor behind. Walking back down the corridor they soon spotted the assistant, back in the same position they found him in earlier. A dark grin spread across Natsu's face as he silently crept up on the unassuming man, as he got into position, the Fire Dragon Slayer reared his head back before thrusting forward and shouting into the poor man's ear.

"Rika said stop slacking on the job!" The poor man immediately jumped into the air, a high-pitched scream following as he failed to swallow it down. He glared at the group as they all made their way towards the exit in different stages of amusement. Rogue simply smirking at the man's reaction, Yukino giggling and Natsu boisterously laughing loudly.

Opening the door for his Team, Natsu looked around the town briefly again, taking in the sights before starting to walk back towards the train station. He was looking forward to getting something to eat and relaxing for the evening. While the sun was setting in the background he knew he should not feel as tired as he did, however, the train journey had taken it out of him. Looking at Rogue, it appeared the same could be said for him.

Nodding at the other Slayer the group started back towards the train station, idly noting that the streets had already begun to clear, the last remnants of the inhabitants hurriedly moving back to their homes, avoiding any attempts at conversation and eye contact. It was quite the change from the atmosphere of before.

It only took them a couple of minutes to get to the hotel, the now deserted streets cutting down the time to get to their destination. Looking back at the now empty streets, Natsu burned the image into his mind. How the stalls were left with products still out in the open, how even the flowers seemed to darken in the setting sun of the evening. A breeze rolled through the town blowing what should have been the sweet scent of flowers his way, instead, the smell seemed to sour as it reached him, making him scrunch his nose up in confusion. He turned around leaving the empty market behind him as he walked into the hotel.

It took them next to no time order separate rooms for the evening, separating from his two friends his face cold, worrying Yukino as she watched him go to his own room, not turning to acknowledge their presence. She wondered if she should go after him but instead turned to Rogue suggesting they get some food before heading to their own separate rooms.

Making his way into his current abode, Natsu ignored all the decorative pieces of his onetime bedroom, he even ignored his now loudly growling stomach and went straight to his window to peer out. He could not quite put his finger on why the emptiness was affecting him so much but he knew one thing. He was going to help this town out of its woes; nothing was going to stop him. He was back.

* * *

 **First and foremost, shoutout to BlaccDragon25 who helped check over this chapter before releasing it! I feel it's a lot better in terms of grammar and a lot more streamlined now!**

 **I switched over to writing the chapter on my Ipad so while that means swifter chapters, it also means more spelling mistakes and more drafts I have to do before it goes up. Doesn't help that I can be a perfectionist at times as well.**

 **Anyway onto other news we hit over 200 followers! Thanks so much for that, it really helps to keep on writing so keep being awesome!**

 **Another piece is that I've apparently been on this website for 4 years as of a couple of days ago. Granted I haven't written for all that time but hey, it's still a cool thought.**

 **As a side note, I decided to check how old I was (on this website...) after reading the latest one-shot from Dark Gothic Lolita about Natsu and Juvia and they mentioned how old they were as well. But you should check out their story Heartbroken really good so far and a great Navia pairing if you enjoy them.**

 **Lastly, I may have started writing a Natsu/Chelia story, it's pretty barebones at the moment and I haven't put much effort into it (I'm concentrating on getting this finished and my first story which I've neglected for almost a year) but hopefully if I can balance out these three stories, I should put the first chapter up sooner or later.**

* * *

 **Okay onto the reviews:**

 **MIKE202303 \- I know what race he is so I probably should have phrased what I said better! However at the time, we didn't know what he was, and in terms of how we as the audience respond. It's a very human emotion heartbreak and loss, and that was what I was trying to convey.**

 **LucyMabely \- Thanks for all the reviews but I'll answer them all in one go to make it easier for everyone! I know that StiCy at the moment seems to be evil in this story but I have an endgame I promise! and Thank you for all the compliments, characterisation and dialogue are probably my best strengths, need to work on my chapter to chapter work and world-building though.**

 **But about Gray and Juvia, you're definitely spot on. One of the best Juvia moments was actually way back in the first season when she takes the hit from one of the Orbs of the Thunder palace, it really showed how selfless she really was, but then it kind of got switched to being just about Gray. It really was a shame in the end.**

 **DisasterMaster0** **\- Thanks a lot man, means a lot to have positive feedback! Yeah, I wanted Yukino to hold her own made sense to me, she is trained in martial arts so she does know how to fight! (You were also spot on in seeing what I was trying to achieve as well.)**

 **Also yeah apparently according to ' ' Juvia is 4th, only preceded by Natsu(3rd), Carla (2nd), and Lucy (1st). Just realised I made a mistake about her ranking but it's still bad that she's up there! I also think that this is all fan-voted so this is what we the audience voted for. to put it into perspective people voted for these 4 to be worse than, the Jiggle Jugs gang (AND the Jiggle Butt Gang), Daphne, Ivan Dreyar and Ichiya.**

 **Ah, thanks for the clarification! That actually explains a lot! Also, no problem, like I said, there needs to be more NaYu out there!**

 **ReshiCan(Guest) \- If I ever write a Comic/Manga or get lucky to have my own anime, I promise I'll stay away from blonde characters! (Unless they're evil!),**

 **Also when you said Natsu x Small Harem, I may have read the next bit as him literally having a harem of dwarves, so thank you for making my whole life with that image! Your point about Elfman and Yukino is intriguing as well, would actually like to see how those two interact. Lisanna definitely deserves someone but who knows? Maybe Hiro actually has a plan! (We can hope!)**

 **PraetorFable** **\- Thanks a lot! Hope this is equally as good!**

 **DdraigTrueEmperor9** **\- Thanks a lot! For the fight, I kind of figured that Yukino's training would bridge a lot of the gap between them. Honestly, a trained fighter will usually beat someone who just kind of picked up fighting from experience. However Natsu has far too much experience and, as you said, is tougher than just about everyone so he gets the win. But for the sake of building up Yukino, she drew first blood and got the first hit.**

 **You pretty much summed up how I feel about the pairings, to be honest. A lot of them could have been great but they fell short and I don't think that a lot of effort was put into them. We were just expected to enjoy that they were all partnering up even if they didn't make that much sense.**

 **Tobie Pounder** **\- Hearing you loud and clear mate, already doing the longer version!**

* * *

 **And that's all! I've stopped doing the analysis for the time being, (Pretty sure I've offended just about everyone by now anyway.)**

 **But I'm also curious to know if you want a Natsu/Chelia story, if you don't that's fine I can shelve it for the time being and work on it another time! If there is a pairing you'd like me to try let me know and I'll see if I can get an original idea for it!**


	7. Shadow's Crest - Part One

**Shadow's Crest - Part One**

"Natsu-sama?"

The Door creaked open slightly as Yukino slid into his room, closing the door behind her as she leaned back against it, worrying creasing her face as she gazed at the unresponsive form of Natsu. The Fire Dragon Slayer had given no acknowledgement to her presence. He just continued to stare out of his window into the now dark, empty town below.

"I thought you may be hungry so I brought you some food." Again he did not seem to register her presence. She waited for a couple of seconds before he finally moved, patting the spot next to him from where he sat on the bed. Moving over slowly, Yukino looked over to him trying to get a handle on his current state.

Surprisingly though the Fire Dragon Slayer, refused to give anything away, his face unusually stoic as he continued to gaze out of the window from his seat on the bed.

"Yukino, I can come to you with anything right?" The Celestial Spirit Mage grew concerned at the tone of his voice. It shook ever so slightly, not quite matching the facade he was trying to maintain, cracking for only a second. Pausing in order to process why he would think she would ever turn him away, Yukino quickly answered letting only a drop of confusion out in her voice.

"Of course you can Natsu-sama? Why would you think you couldn't? I'd never turn you away." He finally looked over to her, giving a small smile at the reassurance he found in her, however, that quickly turned to a grimace as he dwelled on what was troubling him. Deciding that he should talk out his thoughts rather than bottle them away, he quietly responded to his friend's plea.

"Thank you Yukino something's bothering me. Seeing how dedicated the mayor was in trying to protect those she cared about got me worried maybe I wasn't ready for this job yet. She just seemed to put her every hope in us and I'm not sure I can deliver. I hate this feeling I've never had it before and I don't know what to do."

It became perfectly clear to her so quickly, the thought of the fight was still burning within him, indeed maybe even the willingness. But the problem lay in the fact that there was something at stake now. It was all well and good to think about how he would take out Shadow's Crest but now that he had seen the townsfolk and the desperation on Rika's face, he had an unusual moment of self-doubt. If he failed right now, he could potentially bring harm to such a wonderful town. Was he ready to retake that responsibility?

"I know what you're going through Natsu-sama; I always feel that I'm never quite good enough. However, a certain Dragon Slayer showed me that I couldn't think that way forever and that I could be everything I hoped I could be one day. He gave me the strength to know that I was strong enough to fight."

She gave him a gentle smile as he flushed slightly with embarrassment, she swore she heard him mumble 'that's because he's right.' But she could not be overly sure. Still, the thought gave her some joy that he really thought that highly of her, yet despite the slight blush on his cheeks she could tell he still needed some comfort.

"I'll tell you this then Natsu-sama, but please don't say anything. It's kind of embarrassing. I was having a conversation like this one this morning as well, luckily for me, Minerva set me right with her advice. If I have to be your Minerva I will be Natsu-sama, you are extraordinarily powerful in your personality and your magic. You are ready for this! I for one know you can do whatever you set your mind to do, your power and will makes anything possible."

Natsu looked at her mouth agape and eyes wide, processing what she had just said to him, although it was from the heart and he could tell from the fire burning in her eyes that she meant every word. This intensity created something strange that started to build inside of him, something that he just could not ignore. It clawed its way up from the pits of his stomach, creeping upwards gripping every part of his chest as he tried to contain himself, but no matter how much he tried to resist the urge he could feel it quickly taking hold. Looking deep into her eyes, taking a moment to relish in the depths he found there, he finally let his feelings out in one, simple action.

He snorted.

He snorted loudly.

Yukino watched on as her friend quickly devolved into a full-blown belly laugh leaning back on the bed as he kicked his feet into the air as if warding off someone who was purposefully trying to tickle him. She tried, she really did try, but the blush that exploded onto her face was almost instantaneous, there was no chance of her avoiding it. Luckily Natsu soon got himself under control, looking over at his friend only to find a look of pure mortification on her delicate features. Letting out another small chuckle, the Fire Dragon Slayer deemed it wise to give her some relief.

"I'm sorry Yukino but it was just that that was so cheesy! I appreciate it though I really do!" giving her a fanged smile Natsu pulled her into a quick hug before letting her go, hoping she would calm down from her small embarrassment soon. Luckily for him, she seemed to see the funny side as she narrowed her eyes slightly in a mock glare as she wagged her finger at him.

"And to think I wanted to help you Natsu-sama, shame on you! If this is how you treat the people who go out of their way to try and see you through your problems then I shan't be helping you again." Thrusting her nose into the air for added effect, Yukino could not stop the blush that appeared on her cheeks at her slightly out of character teasing. If she was honest with herself she was just more than happy to see the wide grin her gentle banter seemed to garner from her friend.

Natsu again let out a laugh as he put his hands up in surrender giving her another fanged grin before it softened, his eyes showing a deep fondness as he spoke once more.

"But seriously though, thank you Yukino, I knew I could count on you if I ever needed you and you really did deliver!"

She gave him a big grin of her own but before she could get out a response, Natsu spoke up again.

"And you got me food as well, that just doubles up your awesome count!" Laughing to himself he fell onto the food, to eat it as quickly (But politely, Yukino was still in the room) as possible. Laughing along at his antics, the Celestial Spirit Mage watched fondly as Natsu's real personality was coming out as he relaxed more. She could feel the pride welling up inside at the fact she had been the cause of his happiness.

Her Fire Dragon Slayer appeared to be full of surprises that night. She watched as Natsu picked up a large piece of chicken, looking at it intently for a second before offering it to her, eyes sparkling all the while. She blinked once, taking in the piece of meat in front of her face. Gingerly she reached out, taking it slowly out of his hands, looking at her friend with mild confusion, before a happy grin forced its way onto her face. Starting on her snack the two soon went straight back into their laughter, chatting as they let time slip away.

They were so lost in each other's presence that they failed to notice Rogue who snuck in with Frosch and stood silently watching the two for a while. Smiling at the scene, a mischievous thought popped suddenly into his mind. Opening his mouth, the Shadow Dragon Slayer spoke as loudly as he could without shouting.

"Are you two having fun?"

They both immediately jumped at the sudden intrusion, whirling around to look for the source of the voice in shock as the remaining pieces of food flew all around the room due to the plate being flung out of Natsu's lap.

Rogue was definitely not the type of person to burst out into laughter; however, he was the type to smirk. And he really struggled to keep one off of his face, although it was rather easy to tell he was not trying all that hard. The scene in front of him was made even better when a piece of lettuce landed on Natsu's head and the poor soul failed to notice, he was too caught up in the fact someone had snuck into his room and caught him off guard.

Moving further into the room, Rogue approached his fellow Dragon Slayer taking the piece of lettuce off of his head and eating it as he also joined his two friends on the bed Frosch following and jumping into the Celestial Mage's lap.

"So, what have you two been up to?" And with that question, the ease of that Natsu and Yukino had before, returned in full force. The group of friends soon fell back into the rhythm of their conversations as the night wore on the Fire Dragon Slayer making his friends laugh as they happily kept their minds off the task that faced them in the morning.

However it was three different people who eventually went to bed, one was indifferent to the day ahead, more than used to these types of jobs. One was hopeful, a thirst to prove them self ever since their friends began to believe in their abilities. One was determined, determined to help the people of this town and get their life back on track and get back to the level of power they were used too. All three closed their eyes enjoying the rest before their first mission together as a team.

The sun rose slowly in the sky, signalling the start to the brand new day. Natsu slowly stirred as the burning light of the morning filtered into his room. Slowly opening a single eye, the Fire Dragon was greeted with an intense white light. Groaning at the pain that flared up, the Dragon Slayer quickly closed his eye, refusing to let his current nemesis in and pondered if it was worth it to even get up yet.

He knew that staying in bed was impossible though, there was too much to do and he was needed elsewhere. Sitting up and bravely opening his eyes to the light, Natsu embraced the pain as his eyes gradually became accustomed to the light and the visage of his room slowly came into focus.

Getting out of bed the Fire Dragon Slayer quickly went to the bathroom for a shower, deciding to simply let the water run over him as he relaxed. Emptying his mind surprisingly easily, Natsu managed to avoid any thoughts about what he was going to have to do that day and just enjoyed his present sensations.

However, his shower was soon finished, even if he did drag it out as long as he could. Slipping out he ignored a towel, instead activating his magic for a couple of seconds and drying, letting the comforting warmth do most of the work. Grabbing a clean version of his outfit Natsu quickly put it on heading out of his room to see if he could find either one of his friends.

As he headed out of his room, his keen nose caught a faint whiff of breakfast being prepared close by. His stomach growled suddenly, alerting him to the fact that he had not fed himself in a long time. Pushing down the surprise that he had missed such an obvious fact before, Natsu began his hunt for food, a grin now plastered on his face at the thought of enjoying one of his favourite pastimes.

It took a few minutes to find the source of the divine smell but he eventually got into a dining room of sorts. Tables had been laid out bearing the morning's food in a well-done display, while groups of people sat at tables of their own enjoying each other's company as they all made small talk.

A quick scan of the room found that Rogue, Frosch, and Yukino were already seated with breakfast in front of them, a seat seemingly saved for him. With a smile at their thoughtfulness, Natsu approached his friends, both of them looking up when they saw his approach with smiles of their own in greeting.

"Good morning Natsu-sama we got you some breakfast." Yukino pointed to the empty space next to them as the two quickly went back eating, leaving the Fire Dragon Slayer to look where his friend pointed to find a plate filled with a variety of meat products, ranging from bacon to chicken and sausages.

Feeling oddly touched that his friends knew what to get him and steadfastly ignoring the growing feeling annoyance that he really was predictable, Natsu wasted no time in sitting down to enjoy the feast his friends had laid out for him. Tearing in with reckless abandon, he savoured every ounce of flavour as he closed his eyes at the ecstasy.

A giggle soon convinced him to open them again; as light replaced the darkness he came face-to-face with Yukino, hand hiding her laughter as they covered her lips. Slowing down considerably with a sheepish look on his face, Natsu began to eat with some decorum, getting another giggle from his friend.

With a fanged grin from the Fire Dragon Slayer, breakfast continued for Team Yukino, all four of them enjoying the atmosphere of being with friends. All three finished their meal around the same time, patting their stomachs in contentment, the group seemingly agreeing that the meal was settling well. Leaning back in his seat Natsu opened his mouth to start up a conversation, however, a man burst into the room, sweat running down his brow and a panicked look on his face.

He mumbled to himself as he frantically searched the room, his eyes narrowed as frustration began to build. Eventually, his eyes met those of the woman's he was looking for. One of the hotel workers who was busy cleaning some of the cutlery. His whole expression changed, a grimace of what appeared to be sympathy spread across his features before he hastily jogged over to her, bending over to whisper in the rather nervous looking worker's ear.

A gasp escaped her lips as the words seeped into her mind. Spinning round to the man so they were face to face, she failed to stop herself from calling out instead of keeping her voice to the whispered level of their previously private conversation.

"They got Myra's stall?" The shock and fear was evident in the shake of her voice as she accidentally announced the news the now flustered man had quietly told her. Not stopping to hear any more details, the hotel worker charged out of the building leaving behind a dining room full of confused people.

It took little more than a moment for the rest of the guests to get to their feet, following the path set by the now running woman to see what had got her so agitated. Rogue, Yukino and Natsu all gave each other a look before they all tagged on behind, wondering what was going on.

Heading into the outside town centre with the crowd that seemed to be congregating, Team Yukino peaked over the heads that were obstructing their view to be met with a worrying sight. Where once there was a thriving business, a wreckage of a smoking stand was left. A lone woman surrounded by the crowd was on her knees in front of what everyone assumed used to be her shop, tears rolling down her face at the sight of her lost enterprise.

It was a rather harrowing experience to see, a person break down and cry at the loss of their livelihood. Everyone present realised what this meant for the poor woman. The very thing she needed to survive was gone. Her job, her connection to the town, even a degree of her social life was stolen away from her. Whispers of 'Shadow's Crest' quickly scattered through the crowd.

The effect was immediate. Children began to whimper as parents looked around in fear, it seemed that despite the fact that this sort of event was a constant, people were not yet desensitised to the threat that loomed over them. Natsu himself was close to letting his anger at the situation spill out. How dare Shadow's Crest treat this lovely town like this? He let his rage simmer and burn within him, letting it fuel his determination to see their end. His thoughts of his future fights were still festering away when he was forcibly dragged outside of his mind.

An explosion rocked the town square, filling everyone's vision with a brief flash of white before a deathly silence descended on the square. Everything seemed to slow down as time began to trickle. Rubble from one of the nearby buildings cascaded away from the source of the blast, raining down on the shocked townsfolk as people began to get buried under the weight. Sickening crunches and screams grated on everyone around.

Smoke billowed forth, blocking out the vision which had just cleared. The smell mixed with the distinct scent of gunpowder, chocking everyone around with the foul fumes. The sounds of hacking joined the moans of the injured as people desperately tried to clear their lungs, stumbling about as they were robbed of both sight and smell.

Screams of terror began to echo around the crowd, the locals turned around in a panic trying to find a way to escape from the disaster playing out in front of them. It was all happening too fast; no one knew if the way they were going was the right way to go, what was worse was that they simply did not care.

Survival had kicked it, people were only looking out for their loved ones, a minor few just themselves, leaving behind their partners and children as they ran to their own perceived safety. Some fell, the trampling feet of their friends raining down hard as their prone bodies lay ignored by the general population.

However, there were three people who refused to ignore the injured and endangered.

Natsu and Rogue immediately sprinted into the crowds picking up the injured and trampled, carrying them to any safe space they could find, placing them down gently to cries of thanks from the conscious ones. Unfortunately, not everyone was so fortunate.

Many were laid down unconscious, blood dripping from wounds leaking onto the two Dragon Slayers, beginning to stain their clothes as they did their best to staunch the flow, luckily succeeding. After they were taken care of the two darted back into the crowds, removing rubble and saving the people trapped underneath. Taking them to safe spaces and treating them the best they could with their limited knowledge. They still needed attention and soon but first, this attack and the panic had to be stopped.

Luckily it seemed Yukino had an idea of how to deal with the situation. Grabbing one of her silver keys from her belt she quickly summoned Deneb. The Swan Spirit looked about, getting a fix for the situation. It took a few moments for him to realise what his partner wanted. Grabbing onto her under her armpits, the Spirit lifted Yukino into the air, guiding her to a vantage point where she could take a look around the area.

Internally keeping as calm as possible, The Spirit Mage plotted routes through the town where the crowds could go to safety, directing Deneb to fly her above the crowd, she immediately began to yell instructions as loud as she could, desperately trying to be heard above the sound of the crowd.

"Please, this way!"

It took a while for the crowd to hear her words but eventually, some of the locals heard, looking into the alley she was pointing to and running in that direction. After a small space of time, others from the crowd saw people running in a different direction, quickly changing their own course they followed in their footsteps, hoping that the route that they were now on would lead to safety.

Seeing that more people were following her path, Yukino flew over to another alley entrance, repeating what she did before, leading more of the crowd down another path to what looked like a safe zone. She repeated this process a few more times, the crowd slowly beginning to thin as they followed her instructions. After a few more minutes the main crowd had gone and only a few stragglers remained.

Luckily this clearing of the locals allowed a couple of official-looking people to make their way into the market, Rika in their lead as they all immediately began to investigate what had happened. Medics followed not too far behind, seeing the injured dotted about the marketplace and rushing over to administer treatment as quickly as possible. Seeing as though her job was now complete, Yukino asked Deneb to put her down back on the ground. She felt herself slowly descending as her spirit did as instructed, depositing her safely back onto the stones of the pavements. Natsu and Rogue soon joined her as Rika made her way over to them a frantic expression on her face.

"Thank you all so much, this incident would have been a lot worse if you hadn't have helped." She treated them to a tired smile, looking around at the destruction of her pride and joy, a single tear fell from her eye before she brushed it away quickly, forcing her face into a hard mask before continuing talking to the group.

"This is the worst one yet, usually it's just some property damage and that's it. For them to go this far..." She gazed into the distance eyes misting slightly as she left the rest of her sentence unsaid. Picking up on her meaning the group grimaced to themselves as one, joining her in gazing at their surroundings as Rogue picked up Frosch from the safe place he had left his Exceed.

Pieces of rubble now laid strewn around the square, petals interspersed throughout, adding a strange colourful palette to the scene of the attack. Small blood splatters dotted the streets painting different pieces of foliage a crimson red, droplets slowly dripping off and onto the floor creating tiny puddles.

Smoke still poured out across the square, although not as thick as it once was, it still obstructed vision, making it difficult to see through with the increasing wind. The smell had seemingly settled into a strange mixture of pollen, blood and gunpowder. If the current inhabitants of the market were not already used to it, they would be sure to gag even more at the burning scent.

"My town..." the three mages all looked over in sympathy to Rika, the mask the mayor had worn already gone as she let her tears fall, mixing with the dust and ash on the ground. A broken woman in the broken centre of her pride.

"Please..." Team Yukino nodded as one all moving out towards the only road that led out of town, a new fire burning in all their hearts, even the usually cool Yukino was feeling an anger she had never felt before. The explosion had rocked her to her very core, she had seen many great atrocities in her time but nothing had shaken her quite like that.

The Dragons in the Grand Magic Games had been a disaster there was no doubt about that, but they were indiscriminate, attempting to kill everything and everyone in their way. It never felt so targeted. And she had been in the centre of it. A whisper in the back of her mind saying maybe she was the cause? What if they had heard about the mages being hired?

She began to shake ever so slightly only for a second. But in that second many comforting voices whispered to her from throughout her life. She straightened herself before either of her companions could see that there was something wrong with her. She was a strong person, she got through the past half an hour or so with no problems and when the time came, when people desperately needed her, she was able to deliver with a cool head. That was some improvement.

"W...Wait a minute." They all turned around to see the running form of Rika approaching, her auburn hair streaming behind her as she caught up, a look of guilt on her face as she finally came to a stop. She seemed to go through some internal struggle for a while, before opening her mouth to stutter out what she wanted to say.

"I just wanted to say..." She squirmed under their eyes, trying in vain to desperately say what she needed to but somehow the words seemed to fail her. Avoiding looking anywhere near their faces, she kept her eyes solely on the ground, shoulders visibly sagging as her hand reached for her elbow, rubbing up and down her arm in some form of small comfort.

"Just...be careful." Natsu gave her a simple thumbs up and a fanged grin before he turned around and walking on further down the path, determination to see this job through. Yukino glanced back at Rika one last time before following her friend down the road, a look of concern on her features as if she was trying to figure out a puzzle. It was Rogue who had the most intense look on his face.

He stared straight into the mayor's face; his own the very picture of stoic as he tried to figure out the woman in front of him. After a full minute of silence, Rogue turned his back on Rika walking after his team, leaving the mayor to her tears.

After getting clear off Everbloom, both Natsu and Rogue caught a strange scent in the air. The smell of smoke and burning was still present although it was mixed with a floral scent Natsu had problems placing.

Following the scent for a good hour or so, the group finally found the building they were looking for. It stood majestically in the middle of a field of poppies, a cathedral that had stood the test of time. The outside was covered in tendrils of hanging ivy that reached all the way down to the ground, dotted around inside the plant-life where small flowers of red, blue and yellow matching with the somehow intact stained-glass windows.

Looking at the building with a degree of indifference, Natsu was eager to get into the building, the smell of the person coming strongly from the inside. However, it appeared that Yukino and Rogue were not as used to cathedrals as he was. They stood there for a moment wondering how they had missed it on the approach and how something so beautiful had escaped their notice.

From the multiple bell towers that still looked to be in working order, to the tips of the tallest staple, everything seemed to be in fantastic condition. It was a strange occurrence; the building was obviously old but showed no outward signs of decay. The two original Sabre mage's had a hard time wrapping their heads around it.

However, they still had a job to do and it was clear Natsu was eager to do it. The older Dragon Slayer had lit his hands on fire and was approaching the cathedral with gusto, a huge smile on his face at the thought of making the people on the inside pay for what they did to Everbloom. A soft hand quickly grabbed him by the shoulder pulling him back to his group.

Looking up with a mixture of annoyance and disappointment he came face to face with the scolding face of Yukino. Immediately switching to a more bashful face, Natsu quickly extinguished his hands much to the Celestial Mage's happiness. A soft smile appeared on her face, forcing her friend to smile back. He had a feeling he would never be able to not smile at that face.

Focusing on the task at hand, the group approached the unnamed Cathedral. Stopping at the front doors, covered by the shade that the archway provided, they knew they should probably stop for a moment and think of a proper plan. However, it felt like some force was pulling them in. All nodding together as one, Team Yukino creaked open the door and slipped in taking a moment to adjust to the light change of the interior.

They did not expect to see a small, plain room in such a grandiose building, but their expectations were obviously misplaced. Ahead, down a narrow corridor laid a completely darkened room, completely cutting off any vision beyond its opening, it was ominous at best as the gloom seemed to silence all around it. Luckily there were a handful of doors to the left and the right of the now labelled death room just waiting to be explored.

Moving to the door to the farthest left, Rogue took the lead. Creaking the door open, voices spilt out. The group froze instantly, all carefully listening to see if they were discovered. However, it appeared that they were not discovered as the voices continued on as normal, no pause or exclamation of noise was made.

"Bosses got back not too long ago I think, came back from blowing the hell out of that inbreeding sack of backwaters. Sounds like they had fun too! Wish I could have gotten in on that, talk about easy pickings." A couple of laughs came from the room, all melding together to form one harsh sound, grating the ears of the eavesdroppers and only fuelling their outrage to even higher levels.

"Tell me about it, glad we got posted here. Easy pickings and the pay is great, can't say better than that eh?" Cheers were the response of the rest of the people as they dissolved into their own conversations. There were clear sounds of eating and drinking as it became obvious that a few members of Shadow's Crest were settling down to a very late breakfast.

Giving a signal to stand back, Rogue dissolved into shadow, creeping into the room without a sound, avoiding any detection with his uncanny skills. Taking a look around he found around six people all enjoying a late breakfast, talking amongst each other, laughing at what their guild mates were saying. Two of them were even arm wrestling in the corner, each trying to psych the other one out to gain any added leverage they could.

He paused for a moment, taking in scenes in front of him with curious eyes. It took a full minute to remember he was here to do a job. Targeting the arm wrestling pair, he travelled over stealthily, slashing at them with shadows covering his arms. They crumpled instantly as they both took the attack, falling into the pit of unconsciousness before anyone could even respond. The rest of the grunts looked on in shock at the sudden appearance of Rogue and the defeat of their friends.

It would have taken them a couple of seconds to fully process what had just happened however, the Shadow Dragon Slayer never gave them a chance. Powering up his roar he unleashed it as quietly as possible. It appeared that stealth seemed to suit him as the spell was equally as effective as if he screamed the incantation, engulfing his intended targets as darkness took them away from the realms of consciousness.

Walking back to the door and opening it, he gave the all clear to the group currently waiting for his return. Natsu gave him a nod of satisfaction while Yukino gave him a smile. Frosch hopped back into his arms snuggling into his chest for comfort, purring happily when the Shadow Dragon Slayer began to pet his head soothingly.

Moving onto the next room, it was Natsu's turn to poke his head inside and see what lay ahead. Finding a room with only three guild members, the Dragon Slayer pulled his head back out the room and gave a smile that sent very unpleasant shivers down Rogue's and Yukino's spine. Heading into the room he closed the door on the rest of his team who heard a muffled cry, before a massive whoosh of air as the temperature rose to a whole new high. It vanished after a couple of seconds leaving an eerie quiet.

Natsu strolled out as if nothing happened, a huge smile on his face. Ignoring the smell of burning coming from the room as well as a very faint groan, the team moved on to the other rooms systematically between the three of them clearing them out until there were none left unchecked. Overall they had managed to take out around thirty members; the stealthy approach seemed to have benefitted them greatly, even if it was not the forte of at least one of the members.

Eventually, all that was left to do was to traverse the corridor and enter the eerie room. They all stood about nervously not wanting to go through and see what was on the other side, however, they all know one thing. Taking out a dark guild did not mean just taking out the grunts, they had to take out the leader as well, and if they were all honest with themselves, they knew whoever the leader was, was waiting through that dark room.

Giving each other a comforting nod, Team Yukino walked down the corridor, their steps echoing in the empty space, the room seemingly getting further away instead of closer. The illusion eventually had to come to an end though as they passed through the threshold of the dark room.

A chill went through every single one of them as they entered the room, being momentarily robbed of their senses for a second or so building a sense of panic that only went after a couple of seconds. As their sense began to come back and they all took deep breaths to calm their stuttering hearts, they finally took in their surroundings.

The room turned out to actually be quite a large hall, light pouring in through more stained-glass windows, illuminating the place and revealing what seemed to be a large preparation area. Bowls of water laid on numerous desks scattered around, candles dispersed amongst them. Fluffy towels were neatly folded and kept in a scattered few open cupboards.

Looking around the room in slight shock, Team Yukino's eyes landed on the wall of shadow they had just walked through. Although on the other side it just looked like an entrance to a dark room, the shadows on their current side seemed to almost be alive. Slithering and squirming amongst and over each other. It was a disturbing display, heightened by the fact there was no sound coming from this wall.

They were so busy staring at the abomination in front of them; they had failed to fully check the room they were in. They never saw the beams supporting the ceiling nor did they see the hidden figure that was silently watching them. Dropping to the floor without making a sound, the figure simply stood and watched for a while, monitoring his prey carefully.

It took almost a minute for the group to tear their eyes from the Shadow wall in front of them. Yukino, in particular, seemed to be affected by it the most; she struggled to find a way to escape from the dark feelings that was coming off it. Rogue seemed to be more interested than bothered by it deciding on making sure that Frosch was okay in his arms. He left Natsu to gently place his hand on Yukino's shoulder, pulling her into the present and out of the corrupting daze she was in. She smiled thankfully at the Fire Dragon Slayer who gave a soft one back. However, they were all stunned as a voice behind them broke the silence.

"You all resisted my **Shadow Wall**? Interesting." Turning around they found a shrouded figure waiting for them. He was obviously a male, his tone of voice giving him away. If it was not for that hint the group would probably have never found out. He was covered from head to toe in black garb. The only two noticeable features were his hooded cloak and a pair of piercing blue eyes that bored into each one of them individually.

"I wonder how you all did it, that was meant to drain you of your will to continue. It was meant to make you panic and succumb to the darkness but here you are." There seemed to be no emotion behind what he was saying. It was all just fact. He glanced at Rogue halting for a moment as his body noticeably tensed.

"You… You are like me, that explains how you got through." The Shadow Dragon Slayer blinked in shock for a second, however, before he could utter a word the eyes of the figure had landed on Yukino, widening slightly as he properly observed her.

"So pure, no wonder you struggled to come through. Yes, you needed just a little bit of help to get the remnants out of your head didn't you. The weak link, I suppose." Yukino gasped not sure how to respond to her fears being so laid bare before her like that, the doubts nagging in her mind beginning to build, however, before an all-encompassing volume could be reached, Natsu strode in front of her, fists blazing as he vented out his fury.

"Watch what you're saying jackass! Yukino is one of the best mages around. You looking for a fight?" The figure's eyes focused on the raging boy in front of him with indifference.

"Hmm, what's that? Oh, it's easy to see how you got through my wall. Seems you'd struggle to comprehend the intended effects." Natsu blinked for a moment trying to process what the man in front of him had just said. Sighing to himself the figure turned to address Rogue who was eyeing him with a mixture of suspicion and anger.

"Tell me what are you here for?" For a full minute, Rogue seemed to stare into the eyes of the man in front of him before deciding that honesty was his best course to take at the moment.

"We were hired to stop Shadow's Crest from terrorising the town of Everbloom. We're here to stop you." The figure nodded to himself as he appeared to mull over the words.

"Just as I thought. Shame really, you were all so promising, I kind of hoped you were coming to join us. Oh well." The figure vanished in front of their eyes making them all jump in surprise. Looking around for a glimpse bore no fruit; however, they did spot a door at the far end of the room. Without the need for any words, they all began to move towards it hoping to leave their now aggressive adversary behind.

As they reached the door tendrils of shadow reached out from the dark spots of the rooms, wrapping themselves around their waists, dragging them back towards the root. Luckily they all managed to escape their predicament. Natsu lit himself on fire and burnt his way, while Rogue ate his, dropping Frosch and allowing the Exceed to scuttle out of harm's way. It was Yukino who suffered the most, having to actively wiggle her way out with her own strength.

All three turned to look at the remnants of the tendrils as they slithered back to the darkness, only for their eyes to widen in horror as spikes rose from the shadows, stabbing upwards into the room, looking to impale any unfortunate soul caught nearby. The figure of the man appeared by the door, barring their escape and keeping them inside the room.

"You will not get to Miko, you will not lay a hand on her."

Lifting his hands, spears of darkness flew out of his hands and at each and every one of them. Luckily they all had their guard up and avoided the attack with relative ease, the number advantage playing a part as the weakened attacks spread over three different enemies. Natsu charged forward, sensing the weakness he set his fists ablaze as he swung at his opponent in front of him.

Seeing the attack coming, the man immediately erected a wall of shadow causing Natsu to jump back in alarm at the sudden blindness in front of his eyes. The man remained as stoic as ever not even flinching from the heat of the intended attack, however, he took his eyes off his other opponents.

Yukino had sprinted forward kicking him in the stomach driving him back towards Rogue who expertly tossed him away from the door, leaving the path ahead clear.

"Go on ahead you two, I'll deal with him." The Shadow Dragon Slayer yelled at his friends who both looked at him once before nodding and sprinting to the door, not looking behind as they charged into the next room and slamming the door shut, leaving behind the two combatants.

Hearing that his opponent was getting up behind him, Rogue turned to meet his now blazing eyes. Blue fire burning within them as he removed his face mask and lowered his hood. Sharp features were revealed as a rather handsome, cleanly shaven face looked back at him. Green spiky locks falling around his face and standing atop his head as he eyed his opponent with a murderous intent.

"You let them through, you let them get to Miko. You bastard! I'll… I'll kill you." Rogue's eyes widened as he realised that this man in front of him now wanted his life. His eyes held a killer intent in them. What was even more disturbing, it actually looked like he was okay with the idea of killing another person.

He was not prepared when the man bent over, drawing two knives from sheaths on his shins. Eyeing the weapons with suspicion, Rogue could have sworn he saw flashes of green on the actual blades as the man expertly wielded them and assumed a stance.

"I was right you have power like mine, I saw you eat my precious shadows. I am no fool! I am well aware of the legal guilds and the most powerful mages in them. You're one of the Twin Dragons, the one with control over the darkness. I guess I'll have to resort to a more common way of dealing with you."

Before Rogue could respond the man charged with a blinding speed, slashing at his face with precision. Tilting his head back, the Shadow Dragon Slayer avoided getting slashed as the knives narrowly avoided raking across his cheek and potentially taking his one of his eyes. Grabbing a hold of the man's arm, he flung him away hoping to get a degree of separation.

In mid-air, the man corrected himself, reaching into his clothing he drew out a handful of shurikens and sent them flying at high speed towards Rogue. Not expecting the use of weapons, the Shadow Dragon Slayer barely dodged, forcing his face to stay stoic as all the missiles flew past him. However, that meant his eyes were briefly off of his opponent.

Sensing something coming towards him Rogue looked up to see the man flying through the air at him, two curved daggers in his hands pointed directly at him. Letting the man approach a slight bit more, he rushed forward darkening his fists in shadows before punching his opponent in his face. He watched with a large amount of satisfaction as the man was once again thrown back across the room before a searing pain blinded his vision for a second. Falling to one knee and looking down in confusion, he saw two small nicks on his arm that were currently looking very red, despite the fact that they were so small.

His vision swam as the man stood up from his landing spot at the other side of the room. Turning his eyes to Rogue a smirk came across his face as he watched the Shadow Dragon Slayer wobble as he attempted to find his footing.

"Poisoned blades. For a normal person, these would be deadly, I've seen it many times before. For a mage with Dragon's blood, it probably won't kill. That doesn't mean it won't affect you though. Tell me, how are you dealing with my poison?"

Rogue glared as he finally got to his feet, taking a deep breath to settle himself before narrowing his eyes at the smug figure opposing him. His scratches burned again and he actively fought from falling to the ground in pain. He failed to notice the figure moving towards him, his daggers raised. He felt rather than saw two pummels crack into the side of his head, dazing him as he began to see stars. Jumping back to gain some distance, Rogue's eye came back into focus as he watched the man throw his daggers into the air and catch them all while staring right back at him.

"I said you'd pay. After I'm finished with you I'm going after your friends. If they dare to lay a single finger on Miko I'll kill them too." The man's voice was entirely calm this time. It almost seemed as if he had either gone well beyond anger or he was very skilled at reigning in his emotions. He still smiled yet there was something cold behind it, like his smirks beforehand. There was a certain malice hidden there and although he hated to admit it, Rogue was in trouble. He had underestimated him and he had made him pay.

Before he could shout out a response, the man was charging again, swinging at the Dragon Slayer with a speed that would have been impossible for a normal man to keep up with. Luckily Rogue was expecting this attack, and after all the preparation he did to stave off the effects of the poison, he was able to dodge the swipes coming at him.

" **Shadow Dragon's Slash."** Covering his arm in darkness he slammed his fist directly into the stomach of his opponent watching with satisfaction as the air was driven out of him. However, despite the fact the man did take some damage from the attack, the shadows did not appear to hurt him quite as much as he had hoped. It appeared that he had some degree of immunity to his magic, the both of them sharing a strong similarity.

Deciding it would be best to push the attack; Rogue continued reigning down blows on the man, surpassing even his speed as he was forced to take the abuse for a while, gradually losing ground before he decided to change up his tactics. Suddenly jumping into Rogue, his body seemed to leak dark spots that hung in the air for a second before speeding directly into his face.

Jumping backwards, the Dragon Slayer gasped as he felt the effect take hold, his vision once again began to blur as the dark spots joined with the effects of his small wounds making him topple over as his knees gave out. The whole room was spinning; he could not focus on anything. The man once again smirked as he watched Rogue tumble to the floor disoriented from his magic.

"What do you think about my magic? I never asked you before. Those dark balls you accidentally breathed in, confusion spots. And with the nicks I already made on you, I'm guessing you're not doing too good round about now?"

There was no response he could make. Even if he attempted to he was not sure that his unsettled stomach could actually let words leave his mouth. All he could do for the time being was watch as the man approached him, crouching by the side of his prone body as he gazed into his eyes, the cold fury from before showing again.

"I'm going through to help Miko, your friend may be an idiot but even I know how powerful he is. Still, a dagger in the back can do wonders for a person's health."

Rogue felt rage bubble within him before a burning pain shot through his body causing a cry of pain to escape from his lips. Looking up in shock, his opponent had planted his two daggers into his shoulders and let the poison take its effect. The man wondered off towards the door withdrawing his daggers and not even casting a spare glance in Rogue's direction. He refused to let this be the end of the battle. He may have been outsmarted but that did not mean he was out of the fight altogether.

The man paused mid step, a look of rage visibly taking over the entirety of his face as he sensed an increase in magic from behind him. He had only been a couple of centimetres away from the door as well. Turning back to see Rogue on his feet shadow's surrounding him as well as a dark aura that seemed to seep off of him in wisps.

Trying hard to remember where he had seen this level of magic before, a brief flash of the Grand Magic Games went through his mind and he found the answer to his unasked question. Shadow Drive.

Before he could do anything with the information Rogue started his attack. A punch to the side of the face sent him careening into the wall. And the Punishment did not stop there. The Dragon Slayer kept up his assault, manhandling him with kicks and punches keeping the man on the defensive.

" **Shadow Dragon's Slashing Sword."** The man was not expecting a katana made of shadows to slash across his chest but he was once again sent flying backwards colliding into the desk as the wood splintered, embedding into his back as he screamed out in pain. He scoured his memory to think of a plan to combat this new aggressive Rogue.

It hit him far too suddenly that he had no plan for this. This threat was supposed to be dazed out of his mind, struggling to even stand, not thrashing him around the room as if this was a warm up exercise for him. Panicking at the power now on display, the man weakly mustered a large portion of his magic creating four shadow walls around the raging Dragon Slayer. Figuring that would hold him for enough time to help him recover and think of a new plan of attack.

However, he never got what he wished for. The shadows around Rogue started to be sucked into some internal source stuck in the wall. The man could only gape as the walls slowly disappeared into the now revealed Dragon Slayer's mouth. One of his most powerful attacks was swallowed in the space of a minute without a single problem whatsoever. That's when he felt it. The fear.

He could only faintly remember the last time he felt the cold touch of fear running down his spine but right now it was all that was consuming his mind. Of course, he felt the fear of being completely overpowered but that was not the worst part. He felt the pang of disappointment and regret at now stopping Rogue here, at failing despite all of his plans. Had he planned his way out of victory? His thoughts turned to Miko.

She had saved him all those years ago, from that life on the streets, they had been together ever since. He refused to fail her, he could not! But what would she say if she could see him now? Trembling away at the thought of failing to protect her, would she hate him for being so weak?

"Of course she wouldn't!" He had not intended to scream out his response to the questions in his mind but the fact that they were out in the open seemed to give him some meagre confidence. "I won't fail her! I'm ending this now! **Shadow's Abyssal Fear**!"

Rogue paused for a second confused as to why the man had just screamed out loud for no logical reason. As soon as he stopped in place, a circle of darkness appeared around his feet stretching out to completely surround his immediate area. Slowly he began to be sucked into the abyss below him.

Having just eaten the shadows of the previous attack, Rogue knew he could not devour these ones straight away. He had not entertained the notion of his opponent still having enough trickery left to summon something like this. As he sank lower his vision slowly turned darker as he was enveloped in the gloom.

He floated there for a while, not seeming to be anywhere as nothingness overtook him. He knew he should feel panicked or furious yet all that filled him was a strong sense of calm. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed the sensation, this isolation was almost comforting.

"Enjoying yourself I see."

Spinning around as best he could the Dragon Slayer came face to face with the source of the sudden voice. A familiar man stood in front of him, black hair covering the right side of his face, while it gradually gave way to a long white ponytail to the left. A scar running from the figure's right eye right over the bridge of his nose, a tattoo adding some symmetry on the left side of his face surrounding it gave him the answer he needed. Future Rogue stood there arms crossed, smirking at his past self, casually managing to lean despite the fact that there was nothing around either of them. Before the current Rogue could say a word his future counterpart cut him off with expert smugness.

"So you've been captured by a mage that is, quite frankly, beneath us. You should have ended this a long time ago but you didn't. That's why I'm here; it's my job to bail you out of this _'situation.'_ Take my power, end this fools miserable existence. I know you want to. The power at your fingertips will be breath-taking."

It did sound tempting. As much as it made him hate himself he could not stop the slight shot of adrenaline when he imagined wielding even more power. After all the guy deserved it. He had threatened death on his friends; it would be justice would it not?

No, he could not, would not, give into this man again. He had lost control of himself once and it was not an experience he wanted to ever repeat again. Waking up with no memory, his body broken while his partner cried, desperately trying to protect him from a rampaging Gajeel. It certainly never remained in his favourite moments of his life. Shaking his head at his future counterpart, Rogue answered him with assurance.

"I'll never need your help; you may as well go. I'll find my own way out of here."

A scowl appeared on the face of Future Rogue at the rejection. He seemed to float away slightly turning his back on his past self as he eerily disappeared from sight. The Dragon Slayer breathed a sigh of relief. He thought that it was going to be a struggle to get his future self to leave him alone yet he did so straight away. It only then clicked that it was far too easy. Just as he began to think of a strategy a blinding light flashed and blinded him temporarily, leaving him to claw at his eyes for a few seconds.

When his vision cleared he was standing in a room of clear, eye-piercing white. His future counterpart appeared to be dragging some unfortunate soul with him. The body appeared to be battered and bruised, struggling in vain against the man who was dragging him by the neck.

Soon the two Rogues stood face to face, eyes not leaving each other's as they started into their souls.

"Take my power."

The past version of Rogue spared a glance at the beaten man in front of him, unrecognisable even if he could not see his face. He refused to be cowered, despite what lay in front of him.

"I already told you, I don't need your help. I'll take this man down myself, without the help of some random maniac."

The scowl on Future Rogue's face turned murderous. Wordlessly he lifted up the battered man by the hair, ignoring the groan of pain that came from his lips. It took a second for the past version of Rogue to realise just who the figure was. The now shabby blonde hair should have been a giveaway; however, it lacked its usual spiky look. His face was swollen almost beyond recognition, his lips were split, a few droplets of blood seeping from the corners of his mouth.

One of his eyes was completely swollen shut; it was obvious he could not see out of it as he was staring intently at his old friend with a face of misery. His cheeks were puffed up and blue, the outline of the bruises looking like they were already going black. Blood caked certain portions of his face; it looked like a merciless beat down.

"Rogue…"

It was raspy, the life totally stolen from its usually boisterous tones. His voice died in a couple of seconds before future Rogue released him and he crumpled to the ground at the feet of the present Shadow Dragon Slayer. He felt something boil within him that he had never felt before. Murderous rage filled with an overwhelming sense of fear.

He feared that his friend may not survive the beating he had received, that his wounds were just too much for him to take, even as a Dragon Slayer. Bending over to tend to his friend, Rogue called out to him in hopes of getting a response.

"Sting! Sting! Are you alright can you hear me? Please answer me!" There was no answer, not even as he picked him up and cradled him in his arms. All there was coming from his friend was laboured breaths from a man lost in the depths of unconsciousness.

" .Power."

The look Rogue gave went beyond a glare. It was so intense it seemed to bore straight through his future counterpart. Despite the sheer amount of rage directed at him, Future Rogue did not seem all that affected by the look being sent his way. He gave his own back with what appeared to be a promise behind his eyes.

"Are you insane what did you hope to get from this? Why the hell would I join someone who injuries and tortures my friends."

What scared Rogue the most was how his counterpart's face turned from enraged to indifferent in a blink of an eye. It was an unnerving sight to behold as he gazed, with almost sadistic boredom. With a flick of his hand, there was once again a blind light and another figure appeared. He had her by the hair as she kicked helplessly, her usual delicate features contorting into a mask of obvious pain.

Yukino hung there; feet not quite touching the ground as she desperately tried to find some solid ground to stand on to alleviate the pain shooting through her hair, flowing right through her entire body.

"Rogue-sama, I'm sorry I…"

She was cut off as a katana made of shadows was driven into her stomach. The Dragon Slayer watched in horror as her eyes widened as the found the weapon protruding from her, she looked straight into her friend's eyes and tried to speak but nothing came out except a trickle of blood staining her lips, dripping down to join the pool that appeared from the wound in her stomach. Her eyes rolled back into her head as the pain took over; she crumpled to the ground in a heap without so much as a grunt.

"What about now? Will you take my power now? Will we finally be able to fulfil what we were meant to do?"

Rogue ignored his future counterpart for a few seconds, choosing instead to drag Yukino's body next to him, away from the reach of the thing in front of him. His eyes once again show defiance as he furiously glared at the still indifferent look on the face of his greatest adversary.

"Very well, we'll just have to continue."

Another snap, another body appeared before him, this time the scene was all too grim. Natsu was pinned to one of the walls with numerous shadow spikes driven into him. His breathing was shallow, although he looked like the worst of the pain was over, it seemed that it had been intentionally drawn out. All the points on his body that could be stabbed and not be fatal were taken advantage of with a sickening glee.

There were no words this time. Future Rogue picked up Natsu's body and flung it with the all the strength he could muster, sending it crashing into one of the white walls of the room. The body fell and impacted the floor with an audible crunch followed by the faintest whimper only a Dragon Slayer could pick up.

Future Rogue's face morphed into glee. His past counterpart was still in shock with how callously his fellow Slayer had just been treated and did not see it until the flash drew his attention. Another person was kneeling before him, eyes locked on him as realisation dawned on him. He knew those eyes.

They belonged to a woman of class, the very picture of elegance. Her usual smirking features twisted into a clear face of fear, hair wildly clinging to them as sweat dripped off of her. Her stylised clothing had tears running up and down them, revealing parts of her bruised skin beneath. Minerva knelt, her face showing an unnatural amount of fear.

"Rogue I'm sorry I wanted to stop him, I know this isn't you. Please believe-" She was cut off when she slowly began to sink into the floor, a gasp was the only thing that sounded from her as she was sucked in.

It took a moment for Rogue to realise what was going on and by that time it was already too late, even as he dived forward in a futile attempt to reach her, both their hands came within a mere centimetre of touching before she was sucked into the void, her last ditch cry the last thing heard from her lips.

"Rogue!"

"MINERVA!"

His scream went unanswered. He stared at the spot on the ground where she had vanished into, eyes starting to tear as his failure played out in front of him.

"Will you take my power now Rogue? Will you finally let yourself become one with me?"

Absolute hatred consumed him. He looked up, letting his magic flow out of him, cloaking him in his shadows. However, he soon stopped when he saw just who was being held by his future counterpart. Forsch was held tightly in his grasp, the same happy expression on his face as always. The Exceed probably recognised he was being held by a version of Rogue but did not recognise the danger he was actually in.

All of his magic drained away at the sight. His eye widened for a brief second, before narrowing in fury. That appeared to be all the answer that Future Rogue needed as he surrounded his hand in shadows causing the poor feline to cry out in alarm. After a short second, Frosch dropped to the floor unmoving, shadows still flickering on him as he silently lay on the ground.

It took Rogue a full minute to realise what had happened, his eyes glued to the still body of his best friend. Falling to his knees, an anguished cry tore from his throat as grief overtook him. Tears started running down his face as Future Rogue laughed at his weakness.

"All you had to do was take my power, you could have fulfilled your destiny, instead you're here crying on the floor. I expected better you know. Now for one last, accept my help!"

Rogue looked up to his counterpart, red-eyed from his tears as fury coursed through his veins.

"I know who I am, I will never be you. I would never hurt my friends so heartlessly. You are nothing more than a shadow of someone I was never meant to become. I'm ending this right now, **Shadow Dragon's Slash**!"

Driving forward with inhuman speed, Rogue drove his fist into the face of his future self. As soon as there should have been a connection, his surroundings shredded into strips of shadow. As the last of the magic cleared from his vision he found himself back in the room before, a very scared man eyeing him from across the room.

His previous opponent stood there gaping, eyes wide with fear at what he was seeing before him.

"No this can't be happening that was all I had! Yet you burst through my illusion. You can't! I need to help Miko why would you-"

He was interrupted as he felt a powerful spike in power emanating from the mage in front of him. Black scales appeared around the eyes and stretched down the side of his face, masking his face in darkness. His magic seemed to be its own living entity shooting upwards in a display of sheer power that left the man quaking in horror. Rogue's tone was dark as he simply responded with one sentence.

"I don't care who you want to protect, you'll pay for what you showed me. **Shadow Dragon's Roar.** "

Tilting his head back The Dragon Slayer unleashed a horizontal cyclone of shadow directly into his helpless opponent. The force of the attack was so strong the wall of the cathedral was blown out letting natural sunlight stream into the room, illuminating the man as he fell to his knees the roar too much for him to take. Collapsing on the ground the man cried silent tears as he tried in vain to move but his body was well and truly defeated.

Rogue looked on, a small smile on his face at his victory. He deactivated his Dragon Force before turning on his heel to face the door that lead to what he could only imagine was the leader of Shadow's Crest and this so called Miko. However, as soon as he took a step forward his body gave in and he fell to the floor. He may have fought off the toxins in his body but that did not mean that they did not drain him more than he had realised. He had nothing left in the tank.

He had mixed feelings about his current condition, on the one hand, he trusted both Yukino and Natsu to complete the job that was given to them and defeat the leader but he sorely wished to be there helping. If he had only been more cautious he would be fighting side-by-side with his friends right now.

A quiet sob brought him out of his thoughts as his now finished opponent let out his first audible cry. Forcing his body to roll over so he could at least face him, Rogue called out to him.

"Hey, what's your name?"

There was a long pause, long enough to install some doubt into the Dragon Slayer that his question would actually get an answer. However, that was soon disproved when a small and rather fragile voice gave him the answer he wanted.

"Riam… My name is Riam."

Rogue nodded to himself as Frosch came over from his hiding place and curled up into his arms. The Dragon Slayer gave his Exceed a smile before he called out to his now named opponent one last time.

"You fought well…Riam." Although there was no response Rogue did note that the sobbing had subsided, and that was probably as good as he was going to get. Letting his mind wander to the task at hand, he sent his well-wishes out to his still standing teammates.

Not a second later an explosion rocked the building as the sounds of a fight came from the room his team had gone into.

"Natsu, Yukino. Stay safe."

* * *

 **So this took ages...**

 **To let you know why I originally wanted the entire saga involving Shadow's Crest to end in one chapter, as a result, the chapter went well above 20K words...**

 **To put that into perspective, this chapter is currently 11,503 of just story (Not including my AN) and my Part Two is currently 10,289, and it still needs a write-up! So that number will probably go up. I'm trying to get that part finished by next week I think? (No promises.) Will be nice to have two Chapters so close together though huh?**

 **Also, I'm still trying to figure out my mental and physical state at the moment, it seems that my moods are fluctuating between happy some days and well more extreme thoughts on others. Kind of affects the writing process when your up and down like a yo-yo (I won't go with the original simile I had in mind...)**

 **Anyway Fairy Tail has ended now, I originally wanted this chapter to come out before its last chapter but that didn't happen. I wanted to ask what everyone thought of it? I know my own personal opinions (I'll leave it at they're in the vein of my previous analysis and leave it at that) but I want to know if you enjoyed it!**

 **Huge shoutout to** **Mike Uzumaki-Heartfilla for keeping me sane through writing this! Thanks a lot mate (I'm English calling everyone mate is in my DNA.)**

 **I haven't been able to keep up with stories so there are no recommendations for this chapter, need to get back in the game!**

 **As a sidenote I noticed that this got added to a couple of Communities. If you want to add it to any community feel free to! I have zero objection to it!**

 **Anyway onto the reviews.**

* * *

 **LucyMabely - Thank you! I actually think my details are more worst skill! Good to know that I can do it if I try!**

 **Fairy Tail Shu Heller - I won't say too much about my future plans but they are more set now then they used to be! That's all you're getting for now I'm afraid as something is happening soon... Also, thank you for the support you give me! Means a lot!**

 **Johnjuanrambo3553jr - Thanks mate!**

 **samuraikeichii - Thanks! Haven't been able to work on it recently but I have a plan and a few hundred words so maybe in the future!**

 **SecrecyHeart - Thank you for the compliment! Also, I've never understood why Natsu gets hate for leaving, The poor soul lost everything he ever worked for. Literally, his main goal in life was to meet Igneel again and show him how strong he was. Half of his goal was to get strong to get his friends, half was to show his father how far he had come and he had it taken away. Half of Natsu was torn away after Acnologia did what he did, he needed some time to mourn and recover and decide what to do in life - hence why we got the chapter when he bumps into Gildarts. At the end of the day, Natsu owes Lucy nothing for leaving. She bought the miserable year on herself, she could have gone with Levy to the Magic Council or Wendy to Lamia Scale, she knew where they were. She could have waited with friends. Hell, she could have gone to Sabretooth if she wanted but didn't. Honestly, I question Hiro's judgement at what he was doing here. He made Lucy an unnecessary victim (giving those who hate her, even more ammunition) and made Natsu out to be a bad person. It was just all wrong.**

 **Also, no worries if you disagree about my shipping points! Many of the base personalities and ships just needed to be implemented differently and I would have gotten behind them. They were just done in a way that annoyed me I guess. Ship what makes you happy though! Life is too short to not have your heart melted by sappiness every now and then! (PS sorry for the Great Wall of Text.)**

 **ReshiCan - This is a humour story that needs to happen! Someone get on it!**

 **xNaruHina - Do have an idea about a Natsu/Wendy story, it probably won't come out because of time constraints but there we go!**

 **Ah, I'll explain my thought process. It was mainly used for humour, to lighten the mood on my otherwise angsty story but apart from that, I thought it fit her character well.**

 **To me, Minerva does like things to be done her way, hence why we see her scheming so much in canon and why she has an intense dislike for Erza until her redemption as she was the one who actively foiled her when it looked like no one else would be able to. She is also shown to have a sadistic side to her, the GMG with Lucy springs to mind. So I kept up that tradition although she is a lot more mellow now she still has her claws, she seems like a no nonsense type of person.**

 **She doesn't expect him to change, just curb the more destructive tendencies he has. She's just become temporary Guildmaster, the last thing she wants is to have funds drained away, repairing damages caused by her new Dragon Slayer. She's thinking along the same lines as Makarov except she just knows how to push his buttons better.**

 **Speaking of Makarov, Natsu is being treated no differently than he did by Makarov and Erza both of which have been seen to beat Natsu if he was been misbehaving and considering the Minerva is meant to be similar to Erza it makes sense if she carries on in a similar vein. And that was coming from two people Natsu considers family and it's pretty clear that the feeling is mutual.**

 **Also, Natsu can't just walk back into Fairy Tail, I tried to make it clear that by going back there he would have to consistently face Lucy and her new relationship, something he can't quite do yet as he doesn't want to torture himself over the fact that he lost his second love.**

 **Anyway, I'm sorry you don't like my Minerva, it's my failing as a writer if you feel that way and I hope I can create a better story for you in the future.**

* * *

 **Well that's it for another chapter, just a head's up if you want to message me on here about anything at all don't hesitate to get in contact (I'm only anti-social in person!)**

 **Now I'm off to try and decide whether to go to work tomorrow with my dodgy back (I think it's close to spasming again...) and to try and catch up with Critical Role while ignoring the fact that Your Lie in April made me feel like I was a little child being so incredibly over-emotional.**

 **Until next time!**


	8. Shadow's Crest - Part Two

**Shadow's Crest – Part Two**

The two remaining members of the team closed the door behind them before turning to look into the space they had entered. A huge room lay in front of them, multiple ornate pews were lined up in neat rows, all directed towards a platform with a lectern adorning it. Behind it stood a colossal statue of a Dragon, its snarling face looking over where its congregation would have been seated, ever looming in its ferocity.

Between more of the Stain-glass windows hung paintings of Dragons showing a range of stories. In some there were people bowing before them, worshipping them as gods, while in others horrific scenes of people being massacred by the creatures, all pictured in excruciating detail. The whole place was surprisingly light after coming in from the darkness of the other room, in fact, someone had gone for a full decadent look and hung a chandelier from the roof. It sent beams of light sparkling through the crystals, creating small rainbows cascading around the room, brightening every corner.

Both Natsu and Yukino were both in awe at how a room could be so beautiful yet so intimidating at the same time. They were so absorbed in their surroundings that they jumped slightly when steps started to echo into the silent room. Turning around to see what was coming their way, they saw a womanly figure that looked slightly familiar.

As a matter of fact, they were both slightly confused as Rika appeared in front of them, her usual peppy walk replaced by a quickened stride that seemed far too aggressive to be the small petite girl. As the woman got closer it became clear that this was not the mayor of Everbloom.

There were too many small differences. This woman appeared to be slightly taller than Rika and had a more voluptuous figure. Her face seemed to be slightly older too; although there was still a lack of wrinkles, the bags under her eyes seemed to age her somewhat. And upon closer inspection even those were different. The kind eyes of their new friend were replaced with two ice-blue chasms that froze the soul, they seemed to already hold judgement and by the look the woman currently wore, they were found wanting. The only thing that stayed the same was the auburn hair, and even that was worn differently. While Rika's was a manageable shoulder length, this woman's stretched down to the top of her rear; it appeared she had not cut it in a long while preferring the wilder look it gave her.

Her clothing spoke volumes too. Every piece was the darkest black it could possibly be. The woman had donned a skin-tight sleeveless vest showing off her arms, both of them adorned with tattoos of various plants. What was intimidating was how the flora seemed to be attempting to eat one another, not one plant was a gorgeous rose or sunflower, they all seemed to be dangerous and dare they say it, carnivorous. Her jeans were tight fitting, showing the muscles she had developed in her legs, what had she been through to have to get as fit as that? She was nothing like the prim and proper Rika; she looked ready to destroy anyone in her way.

Even Natsu noticed the similarities, as he gazed at her with the same intensity as she gazed at him, his nose picked up a scent that was strangely familiar yet just slightly different. His eyes narrowed at the woman in front of him. She even smelled just like Rika, he could recognise that flowery scent from anywhere.

"Okay, just who the hell are you and why do you feel so familiar?" The woman refused to respond with words instead, she gave him a cold, unsettling smile that even got Natsu slightly unnerved.

"Natsu-sama this must be that Miko the man from before kept talking about, I bet she's the leader of this guild." Yukino's voice distracted him momentarily from the woman in front of him.

"You're right. Still doesn't tell us why she's so familiar though, we better figure it out soon. If she's the leader I really want to beat her up!"

Normally Yukino would giggle at Natsu's one-tracked mind but not this time. She had a feeling that this woman was dangerous, and to take her lightly would be a very foolish mistake. There was the comforting thought that there were two of them though, they could do this!

But then Natsu's reasoning popped into her mind. As bluntly as he put it he had a point, there was a story here that they were not let in on and it was proving to be working against them. Deciding to throw caution to the wind for just a while, the Spirit Mage stepped forward much to the shock of both of the other inhabitants in the room.

"Yukino what are you-" she cut across Natsu's gasp of surprise with her own question.

"Miko-sama is it? What is your relation to Rika-sama?"

This seemed to amuse the woman more. She threw her head back and laughed out a frosty laugh, sending shivers down the spine of both members of Team Yukino.

"So she didn't tell them, oh what am I saying, of course she didn't tell them. But still, to send them into a situation like this without giving them the full story, that isn't like you Rika is it? You don't make mistakes do you? No, of course you don't."

She looked at them eyes gleaming as she giggled to herself as if what she said to herself was the funniest thing in the world. Natsu moved forward in an attempt to get in front of Yukino; however she stood her ground and refused to let him past her, even if her face betrayed the nervousness she was feeling, she had to be strong and make a stand.

Not that the woman seemed to notice or care she just kept giggling until she finally realised how on edge her two guests were. Getting the last of her giggles out she finally answered the question Yukino originally asked.

"What's my relation to Rika? Why she's my sister, my sweet baby sister or did she forget to mention that to you?" She grinned as she already knew the answer, even if she did not have the confused looks on the faces of the two mages as proof, she would know.

"I bet you're thinking why she wouldn't tell you? You are, aren't you? I love being right! Well you see, Miko wouldn't leave you in the dark so let me tell you why. I'm the black sheep, every family has one don't they? The one the parents try not to talk about when they bump into family friends, not that I'd know. Parents died when I was young, Rika probably doesn't remember them all that well."

This answer seemed to anger Natsu, he pushed forward past Yukino who looked at him with wide eyes as he glared ferociously at Miko who simply stood there more amused than anything by the way her little story seemed to offend the man in front of her.

"She's your little sister yet you attack her and her people, what sort of person are you? You're destroying all that she cares about!"

The smile left Miko's face as cold fury overtook her. The scowl put both members of Team Yukino on guard as her entire demeanour changed; she looked ready to pounce on them both and start ripping away at their flesh for their insolence.

"Do not assume you know me little man or my sister for that matter, I would never harm a hair on that girl's head. I raised her when my parents died, I looked after her when she was hungry and needed something to eat. When she would cry from the loneliness of not having her parents there by her side, it was me that comforted her; it was me that held her until she fell asleep! I was barely her elder but I did all that for her, I learnt to do all that for her."

Natsu recoiled in shock, he had not expected an answer that he could not retort to, how could you possibly respond to a story as hard-hitting as that? Yukino appeared to be reacting just the same as him. Why would Rika hold this information back? Was there something more that was being withheld? He spent little time having to ponder on a possible answer for as Miko continued to rant at him.

"We were so close, it was us against the world, but as we got older she became more involved in that damn town, they gradually took up more and more of her time, demanding that she give more than she had. I tried to stop them using her but they shunned me, said I was holding her back from reaching her true potential, that she didn't need me anymore. They hurled abuse at me as I tried in vain to get my sister back but they never gave me the chance.

"They kicked me out of my own home and banished me from returning, all behind Rika's back! I swore I'd make them pay for taking her away from me. That's where I met Riam and we-" She paused suddenly as rage flashed across her face.

"Wait, if you two are here that means that-" The building shook as a blast rang out. It sounded like one of the walls had been destroyed if the sound of crumbling was any sort of hint. Miko turned to both Natsu and Yukino slowly her face taking on a deranged look as she eyed them both individually.

"You hurt him, didn't you? What did you do to Riam? How dare you lay a finger on him!" Suddenly two vines wrapped around each of their necks yanking them down to the floor, cutting off their air flow as they both gasped, forcibly trying to breathe but not getting any oxygen into their lungs as their vision began to swim.

"You brought this on yourselves; you should never have come here. I won't let you take Riam away from me." After another couple of seconds, a small explosion rocked the room, raising the temperature with a disorienting roar as Miko lost control of her sight and hearing for a few seconds. When she regained her senses, she was graced with a vision that almost made her lose her sanity in her rage. Although they were both coughing a little they were both back on their feet glaring at her as they prepared themselves for the confrontation ahead.

"So it comes to this then fine, let's get this started." With that Miko held her fist out aimed directly at Yukino. Confused as to why she would randomly do that in the middle of a fight, the Celestial Spirit Mage did not expect a seed the size of a cannonball to fly into her gut and send her crashing into the wall behind her. Natsu followed a few seconds later as another vine wrapped around his waist as tossed him besides his friend.

They both groaned as they got to their feet slowly, they had been slightly blind-sighted by the ferocity of the attacks coming at them but they knew what to expect now. She was a more aggressive fighter than most. To prove their collective point, Miko had already moved towards them, intent on punching Yukino in the face.

However, she underestimated both of their recovery times, as her fist flew towards the Celestial Mage's face. She caught they attack and both her and Natsu countered at the same time, punching her in a shoulder each and sending her flying across the room. Miko managed to correct herself in mid-air. Before she landed she managed to get another attack away with an angered yell.

" **Nature's Venus Fly Traps**!" Multiple plants appeared, growing well above the height of the average human. What made them so dangerous was their likeness to their namesake; however, it looked like the usual teeth were a lot tougher, almost like needles. They could bite through flesh like paper if they had to, and by the looks of it, they were incredibly hungry.

It appeared that their craving for blood went well beyond mere hunger. As soon as they located both Natsu and Yukino, they extended their long necks and began to bite at them, forcing the two mages to dodge for their lives lest they be caught up in their painful grasp. Luckily for them, they did not have to do this for a large length of time. Natsu's natural ability in a fight shone through as an easy plan came into his mind.

"Yukino! You keep up with fighting Miko, I'm gonna take care of these plants!"

Sending a nod his way, the Spirit Mage faced off with their opponent. Reaching into her belt she pulled out one of her rare golden keys. Holding it with a reverence that came with her magic, she summoned one of her prized spirits.

" **Open Gate of the Paired Fish: Pisces**."

Out of the golden light, the two spirits came, their human forms shining as they stepped into the world. One was an older woman, dark blue strands of hair flowing down to her lower back. Her pale blue top open at the front to reveal a toned stomach and an impressive, curvaceous figure. The boy wore only dark pants, showing off his muscular physique. His spiky Gray hair only just shorter than the woman's, unlike her, however, he came with a trident in his hands ready to do his summoner's bidding.

"Please, can you help Natsu take out the plants?" The son nodded at Yukino's request jumping into action by stabbing his trident into the first plant that was unfortunate enough to be in his warpath. Turning to the mother the Spirit Mage gave her next instructions.

"Can you help me fight the woman over there?" She gestured to where Miko was looking at her, curiosity keeping her rage in check for the moment; it was clear though that that was not going to last much longer. With a nod and a smirk, the mother gave her consent and the two charged causing the leader of Shadow's Crest to open her eyes in shock.

Although Miko managed to block her opponent's original punches, she was unable to do anything about their kicks that connected with her stomach, sending her skidding backwards. Sensing that they currently had the upper hand in the fight, Yukino and Pisces pushed the offensive. Punches and kicks seemed to be reigning down on Miko from all angles; she had to think of a plan and quickly.

Taking a punch from Yukino, Shadow's Crest's leader used her free hand to touch the ground, sprouting out a vine that wrapped around the Spirit Mage's waist and flinging her into the waiting mouth of one of her devouring flowers.

The mother gasped in shock at what transpired and heightened her attacks on Miko, however now that it was one-on-one she was easily holding her own. It did not take her long to turn the tide on Pisces, driving her back before she held her hand out once again and blasted her in the face with one of her cannon seeds.

The mother flew away from Miko landing on her back with a sickening crunch, getting shakily to her feet; the Spirit sent burning hatred at her opponent as she eyed the now grinning maniac in front of her. Creating a beam of water, Pisces sent the attack straight at Shadow's Crest's leader. Not expecting resistance after the strength of her last attack, Miko was sent flying backwards, narrowly avoiding getting caught on a pew as she landed shakily, drenched and angry.

She had to end this now, who knew what else her damned opponents had in their arsenals. Placing her hands on the ground she summoned more vines to encase the Mother Spirit. Pisces' eyes widened as her manoeuvrability was completely robbed from her. She looked up a touch of unease entering her eyes as her opponent had a look of sadistic glee on her face matching her hand movement as she aimed directly at her face.

" **Nature's Machine Barrage**!"

A relentless stream of seed cannons flew straight into the helpless Spirit, cracking bones with the sheer force of the impact. Unable to defend herself from the brutal punishment, blood soon started falling from both her nose and lips as she outlasted the attack. However, despite how admirable her survival was, there was no way to continue with such injuries. She faded back into the Spirit realm, her son following not too far behind, as he turned to see the state his mother was left in calling out to her even as he left this world in a golden light.

The dark guild leader threw her head back and let out a cackle as she closed her eyes, taking some time to recover from the beating she had just received. She heard before she felt the force that struck her in the cheek sending her flying backwards into a pew as she gasped for breath at the impact of being driven through such a sturdy object.

Getting slowly to her feet, Miko opened her eyes to see who dared lay their hands on her and was shocked to see Yukino there. However, the Summoner was not in the best of conditions. It appeared that her plants had bitten into her left shoulder and her right leg judging by the still oozing spots of blood that were currently showing through.

Miko grinned; even if she just managed to land a hit on her it looked unlikely that she could do it again. There was no way she could comfortably push any advantage she had. This battle was as good as won. Just as she was about to push on the attack she saw a slight glint coming from Yukino's other hand and her mistake dawned on her. She had taken too long to push her own attack.

" **Open Gate of the Bear Cub: Polaris**!"

As the light again cleared, a huge mechanical bear appeared, standing on its hind legs and towering above the leader of Shadow's Crest. The fact that it was almost entirely pink only seemed to make it more intimidating; however, Miko knew that she had to get through this giant if she wanted to win this fight. Turning her hands into vines she charged forward.

Jumping high into the air she whipped down with both her hands, putting as much strength behind the attack as she could. However, all she seemed to do was scratch the body of Polaris who simply slapped her away with the back of his hand before she could touch the ground. She flew into the wall at the far side of the room and slid down to the floor, all the air once again driven out of her with a vengeance.

The ground shook as the colossal bear moved closer towards his target. Miko simply let out a crazed giggle before spitting out a glob of bloody saliva before she thrust out both of her hands out in front of her and yelled out her next spell.

" **Nature's Double Barrage**."

Two steady streams of her seed cannon balls came flying out and connected straight into the face of the giant bear slowly making its way over to her. It paused for a brief moment, not showing any surprise that the attack seemed to actually be affecting it. It slowly got pushed back slightly as the stream showed no signs of slowing.

Miko grew a manic smile on her face as she noticed that she was actually able to drive that behemoth back and grant her a bit of time to recover a bit. However, a look of disbelief appeared on her face when Polaris opened a hatch on his stomach and pulled out a jar of honey. The bear proceeded to devour the meal in record time. A golden aura seemed to surround the spirit as it powered up easily taking the barrage now and gaining ground as it prowled towards her.

Cursing under her breath Miko jumped back as a fist landed where she was just standing, splintering the ground with the power behind the punch. She needed a way to pierce through the metallic shell of this abomination yet she was not sure anything she had in her arsenal could do it. There was one spell but she was saving that for when times got too tough.

As she dodged a flurry of punches, inspiration finally came to her. Jumping backwards she held her hand to her face, forming what appeared to be a pouch in her palm. Pulling her arm back she tossed the small bag directly at Polaris and waited to see the results. The bag hit the bear directly in the centre of the chest, exploding a dark oozing liquid onto the spirit. It immediately began to eat into the body, leaving a gaping hole as the bear swayed slightly. The fumes seemed to be helping as well, the corroding scent making the bear light-headed as its vision blurred further unsettling its balance.

Grinning at the success, Miko formed more of her acidic bags and tossed them into the struggling bear. It did the trick. Multiple holes appeared in the body as the acid eroded more of its mechanical flesh. Polaris fell to its knees, unable to stand the poisonous assault it had been forced to endure. As it looked up towards its opponent, intent of getting back to its feet to continue its attacks, one last bag flew directly into its face burning off a chunk of the poor bear's face as it vanished back into the Spirit Realm.

Miko looked over at Yukino to see her staring at her with a look of unbridled rage, the dark mage smirked right back at her.

' _Good, this can get a bit more interesting_.' Striking a pose, wind suddenly began to emanate around her as the leader of Shadow's Crest concentrated hard before yelling out her next move.

" **Nature's Flight: Petal Shower**."

Razor sharp, metallic petals formed in the wind, mixing and twirling with the rhythm of the breeze, before there was a short lull, leaving everything suspended in the air for one short second. Suddenly it seemed like a hurricane had spawned in the room as the winds became a gale. The petals moved with a new found ferocity as they began to shift dangerously in the wind flying up then back down in anticipation. At last, the maelstrom flew straight at Yukino.

Seeing this coming Yukino knew she had to dive out of the way and fast. Throwing herself to the side as the dangerous attack nicked her undamaged shoulder, it certainly did not help that she had landed on her already damaged leg and almost buckled under the pain it brought her. She took a quick stock of her position and her injuries.

Two injured shoulders and a leg she was struggling to stand on. Not the best situation to be in but she refused to give up now. She was going to prove that all the faith that her friends had put in her was for a good reason. Her thoughts were forcibly driven out of her mind by a vine slapping her across the face and forcing her backwards, barely avoiding being driven through the pews that were nearly all scattered haphazardly around the room at this stage of the fight.

It was a hard task to get Yukino even slightly annoyed. It was still fresh in her memory, Rogue had accidentally fondled her while a group consisting of her, the Shadow Dragon Slayer and Sting looked over Frosch to make sure the Exceed would not get into any trouble. She had forgiven him straight away of course, but that was the type of things that ordinary people would get especially angry over, yet she had not.

Now, however, this woman had touched something primal in her mind. Adrenaline pumped through her veins and the pain she was experiencing vanished away in the haze of anger she was feeling. She had seen some of her precious spirits damaged badly and sent back to the Spirit Realm in terrible shape. It would take a long time for them to recover from the injuries they had sustained. She would make the women pay for the injuries of her friends.

Another vine snapped at her once again aiming for the face however, Yukino caught the attack, letting the plant life wrap around her hand, surprising Miko with her block. Yanking on the vine caused the dark mage to skid towards her. With as much force as she could muster, the Celestial Spirit Mage drove her clenched fist into the face of her opponent.

Shock showed on Miko's face as she flew backwards in the air. She had assumed Yukino was easy prey for her with how many of her spirits she had expertly dispatched and how many wounds she had given her. She cursed loudly as she crashed onto the tiled floor, the pain of underestimating her opponent stinging equally as much as the landing. Getting back to her feet she glared over at the Spirit Mage, letting her mind slip back into its crazed state to think of another plan.

A sinister thought crept its way into her mind and she began to cackle quietly to herself. It was perfect, just what was needed to end this woman so she could concentrate on the other one that was currently hanging around somewhere in the room. Closing her eyes she began to focus on her magic causing her body seemed to glow in a dull golden colour for a second. Opening her eyes she smirked over at Yukino as she muttered out her spell.

" **Nature's Dust: Confusing Particles**."

A cloud of golden dust appeared, catching the Celestial Mage by surprise as she was surrounded by the unknown substance. Trying in vain to escape and hold her breath Yukino eventually breathed in deeply allowing the particles to infiltrate her body. It was only a few moments later when her vision almost completely blurred as her world began to rotate around her. Her stomach clenched as no matter what she tried nothing stopped the swinging of her vision, the ringing in her ears nor the illness in her body.

It only took a moment for her to lose her footing and collapse to the floor, the world spinning around her as she gazed up at the ceiling. She had to bite back bitter tears, she had failed. She had tried so hard but she had been undone by the unhinged thinking of their opponent. She had hoped that having a half demented opponent meant that they would not be good in a long fight however, Miko had proven resourceful. It turned out that all her friends were wrong and she was right all this time. She was useless.

Steps echoed throughout the room as she sensed rather than saw her opponent prowling towards her. It was almost as if she could taste the vulnerability and she was not the type to let an opportunity pass her up. The first thing she saw, was three different Miko's hovering above her as her vision shifted again, the crazed smirk lighting up her face as she eyed her downed opponent.

The next thing she felt was an extreme pain as she was hauled up by her hair to come face-to-face with the leader of Shadow's Crest. She let out a small gasp as the pain thrummed through her entire body. Miko's seemed to notice this and her grin turned to an unknown level of malicious.

"I'll give you this girly; you were one hell of a fighter. I'm going to be feeling your attacks for a while. In the end though, your 'righteous cause' was useless. You failed and Shadow's Crest will continue to get our revenge."

With that she drove her fist into Yukino's stomach, driving the air out of her and forcing coughs and splutters to shudder through her body as her entire being wanted to shrink into itself. Again, she attacked and again. She felt bile rise in the back of her throat as the pain refused to lessen, her vision blurred further by the pained tears appearing in the corner of her eyes. She just wanted this punishment to end.

"YUKINO!"

The shout took them both by surprise as they both looked in the direction of the voice. Natsu was charging forward hands blazing and a look of pure rage. Seeing the new threat, Miko punched the Celestial Mage one last time in the abdomen and threw her away, not caring about the heavy landing she had. As soon as her body hit the hard ground Yukino emptied her stomach and whimpered in pain at the beating she had just taken.

" **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist**."

She looked up, vision now mercifully clear as she saw Natsu's fist connect with the chest of Miko sending her flying back into the dragon statue. It shattered on impact leaving the stumps of the legs the only thing left standing from the battering it had just taken. Miko herself wordlessly slumped down to her knees, looking for all the world that she was out of the action for the foreseeable future.

Seeing as though his opponent was dealt with, Natsu rushed over to Yukino, helping her back onto her feet and treating her to one of his famous grins. Even through her battered state it still made her smile to see.

"Sorry I'm late, me and that fish guy took out a few of the plants but he vanished and left me with most of the work. God what a slacker."

Yukino let out a pained giggle, causing Natsu to eye her with a large amount of concern. Seeing this the Celestial Mage thought of a way to downplay her injuries however it appeared that the Dragon Slayer had already taken note of the bloodstains on her clothing and her laboured breathing. It only made matters worse that he could probably smell the scent of the wounds as well. It seemed to be making him enraged.

However, as he slowly turned to face Miko a seed cannon smashed directly into his face sending his neck and face whipping back with the sheer force behind it. As Natsu cleared the stars from his eyes, he gazed in the direction of his opponent who was now on her feet, shakily so, but with an air of defiance that did not falter even with her unstable legs, wobbling ever so slightly under the strain of her own weight.

" **Lightning Flame Dragon Mode.** "

Lightning and flame mixed together to create a storm of burning elements as Natsu eyed the defiant Miko with a look of anger.

" **Open Gate of the Heavenly Scales: Libra**!" Yukino's summon went unnoticed as the stare down between the Dragon Slayer and the Dark Mage intensified. The scantily clad spirit awaited instructions with a poised elegance, two scales in either hand waiting for her chance to jump into the fray.

Natsu, taking the initiative charged directly at his enemy. Sparks and flames flying off him wildly as he focused directly on Miko. In response, she smirked at the lunacy of a direct assault. Falling to her knees, the Dark Mage channelled her waning magic into the floor once again, looking to halt his advance.

" **Nature's Serene Forest**!" All around Natsu trees began to sprout up out of the floor, tearing up pieces of tile and sending them spinning in all directions. Dodging a few stray pieces of shrapnel, the Fire Dragon Slayer was suddenly thrown head over heels as a tree sprouted directly underneath him. Flying into a tree, he groaned in pain as he slid down to the floor only to yelp slightly when pieces of debris embedded themselves into his body.

Ignoring the stabbing pain coming from his wounds, Natsu removed all the protruding pieces of the cathedral's floor from his body, not caring if any of them bled or not. Getting back to his feet, the Dragon Slayer looked around to try and get a fix on what had just happened and where he was.

Tightly enclosed seemed to be the most obvious answer. The trees were so close together that all he could see around him was black. Not a single ray of sunlight could break through the wall of trees surrounding him, leaving him in one of the most gloomy places he had ever seen. Even he had to admit, this dense, dark forest was making him feel on edge.

He looked around for an exit. He was sure if he relied on his senses he could find a way out. He, however, appeared to be mistaken. His sight was blocked for obvious reasons, but even his sense of smell and his hearing were blocked. All that could reach his nose was the rank stench of rotting vegetation, enough to make him gag a little at the sheer burning sensation it gave him. Hearing was the worst part for him though. There was dead silence.

Normally in a wood or a forest, there is the sound of a river flowing or a bug or bird chirping away on a plant or a tree as it went about its day. Even a gentle breeze rustling through the trees created its own unique sound as nature swishes and bends to its whim; simply put a forest is meant to be alive with the sound of nature. This was no normal forest.

In here there were no animals; there was no breeze, just the dark and the silence. It was starting to drive Natsu mad. His concern only grew as he got more agitated, the trees appeared to be closing in on him, intent on squashing him into the ground with the force of their branches and roots as they forced him to be forgotten ever more by the world on the outside.

Miko grinned as the forest surrounded the idiot, serves him right for charging in so blindly to an obviously more intelligent enemy. Without even a cursory glance at Yukino, she began to meditate, closing herself to the rest of the world as she concentrated. A bright gold light enveloped her sharper than before when she used her dust cloud and more exuberant in its very nature. She looked like she was made out of pure light as her glow became blinding quicker than anything the Celestial Mage had seen before. She was obviously putting everything she had left into this spell.

A roar sounded out from the centre of the jungle Miko had created. Suddenly the whole thing was lit aflame as a massive column of lightning infused fire flew straight through the forest, torching everything it touched and began eating away at the vegetation, reducing them to mere cinders.

Yukino watched wide-eyed as ash began to slowly fall, gently showering the figure of Natsu who was glaring at Miko in the ruins of her forest. The temperature in the room was unbearable, whatever spell the Dark Mage was casting was generating a lot of heat not to mention the sheer power behind Natsu's fire made the room feel more akin to an oven than a place of worship. The Celestial Mage could literally feel the sweat dripping off her, much to her shame. However, she was much too interested in the scene in front of her to let it bother her for too long.

Whatever spell Miko was charging up appeared to be finished, as she gazed at Natsu, a totally relaxed and normal expression on her face as she countered the fiery look her opponent gave her. There the two stood, one in the ruins of a dragon, the other in the ruins of nature, both waiting for the other to make the first move of their grand finale.

It was the one most famous for his impatience that moved first, igniting his body in his unique elemental mixture; Natsu charged forward the grin back on his face as the spirit of the fight began to take hold again. Miko's face had her signature crazed grin plastered on it as if she had just gotten all she wanted from this one action. It turned out it was what she had wanted all along, the light surrounding her flared to a blinding level and all present had to shield their eyes as the Dark Mage cackled and released her spell with a triumphant yell.

" **Nature's Finale: Light of the Sun**."

A column of what appeared to be pure sunlight flew like a laser bolt directly at Natsu, threatening to engulf the man in pure energy. Although it had to travel a small distance to get to its target there was no way Natsu was going to be able to dodge in time. The blinding light had done its job and he had obviously seen the attack far too late. He would be engulfed in a matter of moments.

"LIBRA"

Yukino re-joined the fight with a vengeance, she did not even have to vocally command her Spirit, she already knew what her summoner wanted. Altering the gravity direction of the incoming sunbeam, the attack shot up, narrowly missing Natsu's head as it flew into a part of the ceiling and wall, instantly dissolving the material and carrying on well into the sky.

Miko could only stare as her attack sailed harmlessly by its target. That was her last move, she had lost. Life immediately returned to her eyes as she turned to seethe at the person responsible for messing up her grand finale. If she was going to go down, she was going to make sure that that Dragon Slayer remembered her as the one who ended his friend.

Yukino had other ideas. It was clear what Miko was thinking from the blood-curdling look of battle lust on her face, and the Celestial Mage was having none of it. She had been knocked out of the fight before, she was not about to let it happened again.

"Libra, please."

The Spirit gave a single nod in acceptance before altering the gravity field around the leader of Shadow's Crest, sending her crashing into the floor and pinning her in place. Miko struggled in vain against the crushing force of Libra's magic. She glared at the pair, hatred showing on her face as she seethed at her current predicament. That anger turned to fear as she felt the temperature in the room skyrocket.

Turning her gaze to the source of the heat she saw Natsu stalking towards her, preparing to end this fight with one final spell. She tried to get up, tried to run away or at least face her defeat on her feet, however, there was no fighting the pressure that was currently holding her down.

" **Dragon Slayer's Secret Art**."

She whimpered to herself. This was not how it was meant to end. She was meant to have Rika back, make her sister see that she needed no one else but her and that they could be a family again but it was crashing down in front of her eyes. Why was she being denied the one thing she wanted in the entire world? The love of her sister again.

" **Crimson Lotus: Exploding Lightning Blade**."

She screamed as the flames and electricity engulfed her, battering her body, draining any of the fight left within her. After the attack fizzled out, Miko lay sprawled on the ground in exhaustion. Parts of her tank top and combat trousers were burnt and singed, giving off wisps of smoke as she twitched from the shock of the lightning. Her eyes began to close as unconsciousness took her away from the pain in her body and into the sweet realms of oblivion. There on the ruins of a dragon, the leader of Shadow's Crest was defeated.

Natsu wasted no time as soon as he saw the gravity field return to normal. Turning around he sprinted towards Yukino, making it just in time to see her thanking Libra and sending her back to the Spirit Realm with a pained smile. Turning around to face her friend, the Celestial Mage suddenly found it difficult to look at him while he was looking at her with such concern.

She was soon blushing when Natsu began to search her for her wounds. He gently pressed into her shoulders and she gasped as the pain began to break through the adrenaline she had been running on. As the last drop finally left her body and the aches came back, she dropped as she started to feel unsteady on her feet. She never felt the bitter sting of the cold, hard floor, however; she was instead caught in the warm arms of the Fire Dragon Slayer.

Natsu gently lowered her to the ground so she could rest a bit before they did anything else. She gave him a small smile in thanks and he seemed to get the message if his responding grin was anything to go by. He was about to plop down next to her when Yukino weakly held out a hand to stop him.

"Natsu-sama, Rogue-sama…" She trailed off but it seemed that the Dragon Slayer got what her intended meaning was. He patted the top of her head gently as he began to move towards the room they had previously come from. However before he could reach the door, the man he was looking for stumbled in Frosch sitting on his shoulder, dragging the body of what appeared to be their previous opponent in behind him.

Seeing that Natsu was coming to check on him, Rogue gave his friend a smile as he pushed the unconscious man in front of him. The Fire Dragon Slayer took a moment to check out the state of his fellow Slayer and was troubled by what he saw. The man looked slightly green in the face and if he was honest, rather weak. It looked he was on his last legs as he swayed in place for a second before regaining his composure. Any part of him that was not green seemed to have paled beyond his usual complexion, leaving the contrast impossible to miss. The Shadow Dragon Slayer saw the look that was on his friend's face and offered him a placating smile, holding his arms up as if he was surrendering.

"Don't worry about me, Natsu. I'm injured but I'm already recovering, I just need a long rest and a lot of sleep."

Giving a nod to Rogue, the elder Dragon Slayer returned back to Yukino's side, his fellow slayer in tow as they both helped her to her feet. She gave both of them a thankful smile as she steadied herself. It seemed she would be okay with standing for the time being, although for how long for she did not know.

She looked over at Natsu as he went and picked up the still unconscious Miko, flinging her over his shoulder before motioning all of his fellow team to follow. They all began to filter out one after the other, Rogue still dragging the limp body of Riam around behind him.

Deciding it was best to search the place before they left, Team Yukino began to search the cathedral thoroughly to make sure they did not miss a single detail. What was really shocking was that they found absolutely nothing. There was, of course, the still unconscious bodies of the grunts littered throughout the rooms as well as some minor equipment the guild used to terrorise the town and a rather interesting rune display, but apart from that, it appeared that Shadow's Crest had nothing else in their storage.

They did manage to find some rope. Securing the defeated mages was the top priority, even the grunts had the same treatment, all of them were bound securely making any escape highly difficult. Deciding that they should report their success to Rika the group made their way back towards the entrance of the cathedral.

As they walked back into the main hall both Riam and Miko began to stir. All three of Team Yukino stood over them, injured and hurt but defiant. As the two regained their wits, memories of what had happened came crawling back to them in a blur. Bolting upright the two immediately began to look for each other and found relief at the fact that they were both beaten but otherwise okay. The two Dark Mages tried to move towards each other; however, their binds made such a task impossible.

All happiness and relief drained away from their faces when the realised the full position they found themselves in. The pair stayed silent after some contemplation, simply giving their captors an empty stare.

Knowing that they now had their compliance, Natsu and Rogue helped both of them to their feet so they could walk. Riam gave the Shadow Dragon Slayer a nod of thanks as he found his footing, Miko however, struggled having to lean on the Fire Dragon Slayer for support. Natsu allowed her to rest on him for a few seconds, after her brief recovery time, she stood back upward with a nod and a small smile to her helper.

They were all startled at what sounded like voices coming from outside the cathedral. Suddenly on edge, Rogue gave their captives a suspicious filled glare, before he went to the front doors. Creaking one ajar to get a look outside as to what was creating the racket, he soon relaxed. Turning around and beckoning everyone over, he threw open the doors to reveal a crowd of Everbloom's citizens.

There were a lot of what appeared to be police officers there and a couple of what looked like representatives of the magic council, ready to take the defeated mages into custody. What was strange was the fact that for the most part, the people of the crowd seemed to be ordinary civilians. However, straight away as they caught sight of the emerging Team Yukino with Miko and Riam in tow, they degraded into an angry mob.

The anger and bitterness was clear on their faces as shouts and curses began to be flung from all directions. The two refused to be cowered though, heads held high even through the insults coming their way, they were defiant in the face of rage. This did nothing to cool the simmering fury of the crowd.

The crescendo rose to a new height and that was not the only thing flying at the two, stones and pebbles began to fly as well. Most of them found their targets, hitting the defenceless mages all over their already battered bodies. They cringed as pain roared through their bodies as the small missiles found their mark.

Yukino, Rogue and Natsu would have usually jumped in to help, however, some of the stones were off target and hitting them as well. The two Dragon Slayers moved in front of their friend to protect her from the attacks, much to her annoyance. She did not want anyone taking any damage for her. Pulling both of her friends back, she moved forward to address the crowd but was cut off before she could even open her mouth.

A figure had barged her way through the crowd, ignoring the screams of angered protest to stand in front of the two mages, arms spread out as tears ran down her face, auburn hair blowing in the wind. She took the abuse for a few seconds before the crowd began to realise just who they were now throwing their stones at.

"PLEASE, DON'T HURT MY SISTER."

Everyone fell into stunned silence as Rika stood in front of her town's people, blood seeping from a jagged cut on her forehead where one of the rocks had caught her. As soon as she was sure that the crowd had calmed, for the time being, she turned to face her sibling for the first time in years.

They gazed at each other for a few minutes, green entirely focused on blue as their eyes refused to even glance elsewhere. Although poor Rika's emotions were obvious as they played out her anguish on her features, Miko kept her expression stoic, refusing to show any emotion at all at seeing her sister again.

Rika stepped forward, testing her sister to see her reaction. Nothing. She crept further still her eyes still locked on her sibling's. Was that a slight quiver in her facade? Was she really not feeling anything at seeing her again? She could not muster the feeling of care; all she wanted to do was charge into her sister's arms.

And so she did. Being mindful of the wounds on her sibling's body, Rika threw her arms around Miko, burying her face in the crook of her neck, not caring in the least that she was bawling in front of the entire town. A gasp sounded out from the crowd as the Dark Mage's mask began to crack. She kept up her emotionless expression for as long as she could, however, she could not stop the tears that began to fall.

She wailed, loudly for all to hear her cries as she buried her face into the hair of her sister. She tried to escape her binds, her shuffling and squirming not loosening them in the slightest. She wanted to hold her sister again, but being held by her was the best she was going to get. Giving up for the time being, a look of pure contentment began to grow on her usually crazed features as she finally found one of the two people she cared most for.

Everyone looked on, unsure of what to do in this situation. They were still angry, without a shadow of a doubt, you cannot attack a person's livelihood and not expect hatred to manifest, but they had never seen Rika like this. Had she been carrying the weight of her sister's disappearance by herself all this time? Had she missed her that dearly? The person who had done so much for them was suffering in silence for years and they should have realised.

They shuffled on their feet as they watched the touching scene, emotions fighting inside as they glanced at one another. The mood was finally broken when one of the Magic Council representatives stepped forward to take the prisoners. An air of tension suddenly replaced the anger felt by the crowd as he approached the reunion, eyes set stubbornly on the pair of Dark Mages.

Before he could actually reach out and drag the prisoners away, Rika jumped in front of them both her arms spread wide, shielding them from the hands of the Council. The man let out a growl of annoyance at being impeded. He was about to launch into a tirade about protocol when Team Yukino joined either side of the Mayor, creating an effective barrier between the crowd and the Dark Mages. This caused the man to step back, eyes wide with surprise at the unexpected actions of the Sabretooth mages. As he opened his mouth to speak Yukino cut him off with a plea of her own, causing a twitch to appear in his eye.

"Excuse me, but wouldn't it be best if we let Everbloom take custody of these mages. I know the Council wants to appear strong by putting away as many dark mages as they can but Miko and Riam would do a lot better working to repair their mistakes than being forced into a prison cell. Please give their custody over to the town."

Natsu and Rogue seemed to agree with this sentiment as they both gave noises of confirmation while nodding their head in full agreement. Rika had a look of hope over her features. It was a look she was not used to using but she could finally have her sister back if her town would just agree. Eagerly she looked over to her people, her friends and even some beginning to feel like extended family. There were too many ranging emotions to get a good handle on the general consensus. While some had no objection to the idea, some were down right outraged at the prospect of the criminals staying in close proximity to them.

"With the use of magic, especially Miko's, Everbloom would be back to being prosperous in no time. In fact, she could probably make it better! All you have to do is take responsibility and reign in your anger. Doesn't everyone deserve a second chance?"

A few mulled over the suggestion Rogue gave, carefully weighing the pros and cons of the idea in their minds, trying to figure out how this would affect them and their daily lives. Others stood stubbornly to the side still refusing to allow the scene or the words to affect their view of the mages that had done them wrong.

"Well if Miko was telling the truth, you were the ones who bullied her and drove her out of town, away from her sister. Is that right?" Natsu's eyes moved over the crowd as he scanned for any reaction.

Most looked away, showing their shame to all present, not helped at all from the look of hostility on the face of the Guild master of Shadow's Crest. That, however, was nothing compared to the look of pained anguish on the face of their mayor as she let go of her sister and spun around to face her town.

"You mean to tell me after all this time, after how long I've wondered what happened to my sister and if she was ever going to be okay and it was you who drove her away. You who said she hated me because she was jealous of how much time I spent as Mayor when it was you who was actively keeping her away from me!"

An awkward silence occurred as the townsfolk all wanted to be anywhere but there, in front of the Mayor they had worked so desperately hard to keep getting slowly more and more furious as she began to realise just what they had done to keep her in power.

"I trusted you all because I'd finally been left by the last person I never thought would leave my side. It hurt so much." Everyone had a face of guilt at this confession. Even Miko as she realised just how hurt her sister had been from her disappearance.

"I wanted to believe that my sister was innocent. Even when the rumours began to spread that she was the leader of this guild I didn't want to believe it, I knew my sister and she was far too good a person to do anything like this. I guess everything I knew was just half truths."

Silence followed. It seemed even the animals knew that this was serious, not a single bird flew overhead, not so much as an insect buzzed or chirped. With one rant the whole crowd was rendered speechless, deathly quiet.

"I've made a decision, as Mayor of Everbloom we will take the prisoners in. They can be put to work helping to repair the town and businesses as well as being formally introduced by into our community. Are there any problems with that?"

Once again there was nothing but silence. All of the crowd seemed to have accepted that this was happening, not to mention the crushing guilt they were currently feeling from their previous actions. They slowly began to filter away, all with their heads hung low as shame ate away at them. Eventually, it was just Rika left with the representatives of the magic council looking over both Riam and Miko. Team Yukino stood to the side watching on as the self-appointed leader approached the Mayor to have some final words. However, before he could greet her, she cut him off.

"I want to apologise for earlier. I know it's your job to arrest them and it won't look good on the council if you don't but I honestly think they'll be better off actively helping out our community so thank you for letting us use them, I know it must be a hassle for you. But anyway, one last time thank you! I need to go talk to my team over there."

With her piece said Rika turned around and walked away, leaving the council members nervous as the twitching in the leader's eye seemed to go into overdrive. Before he could yell or vent, one of the other members of his party came and gently began to pull him away before the unfortunate soul had a full breakdown. Bowing his head in defeat he left to collect the rest of the grunts with the rest of his team leaving the prisoners for Natsu and his team to deal with.

Rika approached the three of them, finding it difficult to make eye contact as she felt the urge to shy away. Mustering up her courage she faced them, determined but still with a noticeable nervous air.

"I'm sorry for not telling you all of the details sooner; I guess I was in denial. At the time it was only rumoured that Miko had been involved with this guild and I didn't want to believe it, but I guess it was true. I hope you're not mad that I withheld information from you, I didn't really want to." She looked down to the ground after finishing her apology, finding it far more interesting to look at then the possibly angry mages in front of her.

"You don't have to apologise, we totally get it." Natsu's assurance surprised her, springing her head straight up to look at all three of Team Yukino, she was pleasantly shocked to see smiles on all of their faces.

"Don't worry Rika-sama we know how you feel. I have a sister I really want to see again no matter what. Even if she's done terrible things I want her to know I still love her and that I want her to be a part of my family again!" Everyone gave the Celestial Mage a sad smile at her little confession.

"I'm sorry I can't help you find your sister Yukino, I wish I could do as much for the people who helped me get my own sister back but I guess there's nothing I can do, well except your payment. Shall we head back to town and get it for you?"

Everyone gave a nod in agreement as they all began to make their way back towards Everbloom, taking Miko and Riam with them. However, what they failed to notice was the battered Dark Mage in the far distance that looked back one last time to his former guild, carrying with him a whole load of papers and documents. Turning back around he walked off into the distance, far away from the Town towards a destination only he knew.

After making their way back to the town and dropping off Miko and Riam in the local prison for the time being, Team Yukino and Rika all got their wounds tended to before converging in the Mayor's office. All three of the Sabretooth mages watched as their new friend took three separate bags and offered them to each of them, a sparkling smile on her face. It became strangely radiant as she looked at each of them in turn, treating them all to a face of true happiness.

"Here I know we agreed on a price before but I thought you deserved extra, so I raised your reward to two million jewels!"

Their eyes widened at the extra money given to them. It was unusual for the reward for a job to be raised, Natsu especially was not used to getting bonuses of this sort. Usually he had to give up his reward for the cost of damages when there was nothing left of the place he was trying to save. But that did not matter; they had an extra million to split between each other. Obviously, the fact they had completed the job was the most important part but the money was nice.

"Thank you again for everything. I still can't believe I got Miko back. She has a long way to go yet but I'll keep an eye on her, I won't let her go again. I won't let the past repeat itself."

Rika looked away from them after her speech. Staring into space for a while as she thought over what her life had been like ever since her sister left and what it could hold now that she had her back. Looking back at them she beamed once again, stealing away the light from the now setting sun as she radiated a warm sense of comfort at the group.

"It's not often people get a second chance like this, I'll never forget what you've done for me and my town. Everbloom is open to you as long as I'm in charge."

They all smiled back, taking their money as they left the office with small goodbyes, promising they would stop by the next day to say farewell properly before they returned home. Exiting the town hall, the group headed back to the hotel they were staying at the night before, luckily it had avoided any damage from the attack earlier on that day so it was still open for business. As they walked, Yukino took advantage of the relaxed atmosphere and quickly struck up a brief conversation with Natsu.

"How are you feeling now Natsu-sama? It turned out you were the right person for the job after all!"

The Fire Dragon Slayer gave her a small smile as he looked up into the sky, unaffected as the early sunset mixed together a lovely pink and red to tinge the few clouds a truly majestic colour. He could even see the beginnings of the evening stepping in as purple lined the lowest part of the horizon. Turning to give his attention back to his friend, Natsu finally gave his tentative answer.

"I feel slightly better. We were able to save the town and unite a family again. However, I'm not too sure about feeling like I protected those I care about very well." Pain picked the wrong time to return to Yukino's body as her already healing wounds caused her to flinch as she began to realise just how much she had taken in the fight. What hurt the most though was the look of dejected guilt on the face of the Fire Dragon Slayer as he picked up on her discomfort.

"Natsu-sama, it wasn't your fault we got separated at the start. I was able to hold my own, even if it was tiring having all those Spirits come out one after the other. Besides, I think we made a great team when he finally defeated Miko!"

Natsu gave a smile as he recalled Yukino's assist in defeating the Dark Guild leader.

"Yeah, you're right. I don't need to worry about myself so much when I have you guarding my back." They smiled at each other, eyes meeting for a second before they both looked towards the direction of the hotel, silently grateful the other was such a valuable friend.

As Team Yukino vanished into the hotel, they left behind a town that was currently the busiest it had ever been at this time of the evening. People were joking and laughing in their own worlds as conversations and gentle banter was tossed around as if there was nothing to stop them living their lives in this relaxed atmosphere. Shops opened late for the first time in months, the even from earlier totally forgotten in the cheer of safety. Everbloom had finally gotten the peace they had craved.

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 **Not much to say this time other than the second half of the giant chapter is here!**

 **I covered a lot of ground here and I hope it's a good beginning to the arc of the story! Let me know what you think about it!**

 **I had someone ask me to post a prompt so I decided to stick it on here so people could see it!**

 _ **Natsu is raised by both Igneel and Grandeeney as they are mates, however, instead of canon, he will be the son of Zeref and Mavis.**_

 **Don't think there's any need for rules so go to town I guess!**

 **Other than that hope you enjoyed this and as usual, if you have any questions you can message me! I try and answer everyone!**

 **Onto the reviews! (I forgot to point out in the last chapter that we had 69 reviews, not sure if I'm happy that we got past it or not!)**

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 **Guest - Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it!**

 **DisasterMaster0 - You're both right and wrong about the ordering (I regret not making it simpler now honestly.) I went with the one that would probably shock him the most first, that being Sting then Yukino, two people he loves dearly, before having Natsu as the mid-way point and moving onto the hard-hitters in Minerva and Frosch. Should have given that more thought to be honest, but I kind of wrote it and ignored it afterwards. Should have been more on it!**

 **I feel that Rogue is more stoic than he is dark, he was been shown to enjoy his time with Sting and Yukino, plus Natsu is constantly shown to bring out the best in people so it only makes sense he joins in the bonding! (Plus I really enjoy writing him as a secret Natsu/Yukino shipper...)**

 **Honestly, I got so excited when this arc first came out, I loved it and the idea. I felt for sure this was the point where sacrifices were going to be made, a big character may die and it was entirely hopeless. Then, if I'm honest, he got lazy. Two of the possible best characters killed themselves. The Zeref fight was so unsatisfying. Natsu cheating death after all the teases of his sacrifice, I think Hiro just wrote himself into a corner and had to think of terrible ways of getting all his characters out alive. (If someone had died and a beloved ship had to end he would never get that sweet fan service money.)**

 **I had actually accepted that the canon ships were happening by this stage, but what made me laugh even more was once again how unsatisfying they were when they ended. Honestly, If I was a fan of the canon pairings apart from GaLe (and Gruvia at a stretch) I'd feel cheated at that ending.**

 **I thought I heard something about a next generation? Not sure if that is true or not but we shall see!**

 **Anyway mate, thanks for the review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

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 **Thank you all for reading, until next time!**


	9. Rest and Relaxation

**Rest and Relaxation**

Waking up the next day was a pleasant experience for Natsu. The night before had been void of any overly spectacular celebrating, he had instead, fussed over his partners for a while making sure they were okay after their injuries. They both seemed to be recovering yet he could still tell they were hiding most of the damage from him, masking discomfort to alleviate his concern.

It proved his point in his mind when they all went to bed after only discussing the day together briefly. They both looked exhausted and even slightly in pain as their movements seemed to be a bit stiff, each one having to flex and stretch to relax their muscles. They assured him not to think too much on their current state and that they were both fine and happy, rest was what they needed and a good night sleep would go a long way to healing their remaining wounds. So he relented and all three went for a well-earned, early nights rest.

The next morning seemed to confirm that his previous thoughts were correct. Both of them appeared looking remarkably chipper despite the goings on of the day before. They even appeared to be moving around with an ease not present after the battle, Rogue fairing a little better, his body naturally more resilient than Yukino's due to his resilience from his Dragon Slayer magic.

The group had a relaxing breakfast, none of them in the particular mood to wolf down their meal. Instead, they ate in a comfortable silence before departing to their separate rooms to finish any of the packing they had left until the last moments. It took a few mere minutes for them all to reconvene back in the hotel lobby before they set off back towards to train station.

The atmosphere of Everbloom had changed drastically since last evening. Now that the imminent threat seemed to have been removed, people were out in the town in droves. Light-hearted laughter filled the air as greetings were casually thrown at friends that had previously preferred keeping their heads down rather than draw attention to themselves. The fear of being marked was no longer present, the feeling showing in the shining eyes and smiles of every person they passed by.

Despite the smiles and cheer, the town's square was still in a bad state of disrepair. The damage had yet to be addressed as bits of rubble still were not fully cleaned away just yet. The stains from the attack still in full view, still probing the backs of minds as to the threat they had faced. The group took all this in as they proceeded, marking it in their memory. They had helped put an end to this; they were the force that stood against this sort of monstrosity.

With this fresh in their minds, Team Yukino approached the train station with smiles on each of their faces. It gave the Dragon Slayers such peace of mind that they were not fully aware they had stepped aboard their one true nemesis. It came rushing back to them as they took their seats and the train departed from the station. Illness quickly spread to both Rogue and Natsu straight from the offset as the two began to look increasingly unsteady on their feet.

Luckily, the Shadow Dragon Slayer collapsed into his seat, allowing Frosch to leap up right next to him and cuddle into his chest. Immediately jumping at the opportunity, Rogue used his partner as a comfort blanket, instantly grabbing on tight and closing his eyes refusing to stay awake for the torture he was going through. His counterpart was not as fortunate as him.

Natsu managed to get to his seat, however, that was all he was able to manage. As soon as the train started its journey his face planted into the glass of the window, sliding down ever so slowly leaving a streak of condensation in his wake. It was a matter of moments before his face turned a pale shade of green and the groans started to leak out despite his best efforts to keep them hidden.

Sliding in next to him and taking her seat, Yukino looked at her struggling friend, fiddling with her fingers wondering idly if she should do something to make his journey comfortable. Mustering up her courage, she dragged Natsu's limp body up, manoeuvring him so his head rested snugly on her shoulder and waited to see if he would react at all.

Her breath caught as her friend stiffened ever so slightly as soon as his head laid to rest. She immediately swallowed down the urge to throw him off and delve into a pit of self-loathing and doubt. Why did she think that he would be okay with her invading his personal space like that? Her mind was preparing to send thousands more different moral-damaging thoughts when she actively squashed them, forcing them from her mind as she waited, silently hoping for another reaction to quickly show her friend relaxing.

It felt like an age before Natsu settled down and snuggled into her, sighing happily as his illness appeared to vanish into some form of comfort if his smiling visage was anything to judge. Her face immediately began to heat up at just how close she had brought him, his relaxed features causing her heart to beat erratically for a second before turning back to its normal rhythm. Ignoring the weight of her friend, the Celestial Mage looked out of the window watching the scenery as the train trudged onwards back towards home.

That was the way Team Yukino stayed for the rest of the journey. All of them relaxed, happy. Basking in the sunlight as it streamed in, illuminating their faces for brief periods the light only vanishing for a split second as the ray's path were often times interrupted by different trees dotting the sides of the tracks. The countryside flew past as they sped ever closer to their final destination in tranquillity, their peaceful bubble not broken even as the bustle of the train increased with each stop. It was impossible to break their serenity. After all, they were going back to Sabretooth. They were going back home.

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"Hey, Natsu!" The Fire Dragon Slayer looked over to where the voice beckoned to him to see Rogue with a face barely restraining mirth looking at him with increasing interest whilst Frosch perched on his shoulder looking with obvious interest at the developing conversation.

"You look like you're getting a little restless there, is everything alright?" He sent a mild glare over, hoping that his teammate would know his displeasure. However, this just seemed to amuse him more as the smile that he was attempting in vain to hide, slowly began to spread over his face. Natsu sighed as he saw his now grinning friend waiting patiently for a verbal reaction.

He refused to take any blame for his current state of jitteriness, after all, how could it possibly be his fault that they had been relaxing all week, making sure that Rogue and Yukino were back up to fighting strength before looking for another job? Not that he particularly wanted them to be forced into a job if they were uncomfortable with, of course, he had some sense in his head.

But that still did nothing to solve his itch for action. The blanket ban on brawls was still in place and that appeared to be set to stay for a long time yet, Minerva keeping a tight rein on her ship. That would have been fine and Natsu could have dealt with that, however, every time he approached someone to spar they always seemed to get nervous and made excuses, many claiming they had other places to be or something in that vein. It was even worse that he actually liked everyone in the guild and still felt a bit too new to stir the pot by punching someone in the face. Add to that the more prominent members of the guild were all off on missions constantly at the moment and it equalled to a very angst Dragon Slayer.

Sighing, Natsu hoisted himself up, idly wandering if Rogue had recovered enough to punch through a couple of tables. Deciding it was best to just ignore the grin on his counterparts face, the Fire Dragon Slayer reached out and petted Frosch automatically, making the Exceed purr in satisfaction. He felt a stab in his heart briefly as an image of Happy flashed across his mind and he winced as it became clear how much he missed his little buddy, even if it had only been just over a week. Realising that their final member was absent, Natsu looked over at his friend he seemed to immediately pick up on his non-verbal question.

"I'm pretty sure she'll come to the guild soon, you just have to be a bit more patient." The gleam was back in his eye again. Natsu was seriously beginning to consider if his influence on Rogue had truly been a good one or not.

"So why don't you sit down and relax. I'm sure you can cope with waiting a little while longer right?" Ignoring the smug look currently growing wider on his friend's face, Natsu looked up to see Minerva coming down the stairs. Sighing at the fact that he would not be able to punch his teammate in the face without repercussions, he continued to gaze off at the figure of the current Guild master of Sabretooth, wondering if he could persuade her to halt the blanket ban for just one day.

"You know if you're that desperate for a fight you could always ask Minerva for a fight, I'm sure she misses being an active mage." Natsu wished he could tell if Rogue was poking fun at him or not, however, he could not deny that maybe it would be worth a brawl with her. She was the Sabretooth version of Erza after all. She must have been a pretty impressive mage.

Rogue's face switched from teasing to slightly nervous as his fellow Dragon Slayer actually stood up and looked to be heading in the direction of their leader. He was about to call out to his friend to stop the attempt, even if he was kind of intrigued to see how the fight would end. Certainly, Natsu had the power and was one of the best minds when it came to mid-battle decisions, but Minerva was never someone to write off. Add to her impressive power her cunning mind; would that be enough to edge out Natsu?

Now that he thought more on the topic he quite wanted to see the fight happen. Correcting himself, he watched in eager anticipation as Natsu seemed to draw closer and closer to the unaware Minerva, a big grin at the spectacle that was sure to follow finally breaking any restraint he had left.

"Rogue-sama!"

To his credit, Rogue refused to show the conflict that arose inside himself as Yukino's excited call reached him. Of course it was never a question of not wanting to see her, he was always happy to spend time with his friend, it was simply because he knew what was going to happen as soon as everyone acknowledged her presence. Turning around he still managed a sincere smile to greet her.

"Hey, Yukino how're you?" Giving her a friend a soft smile the Celestial Mage opened her mouth to respond, however, she never got the chance. There was a bounding from behind the pair, as the third member of their team ran straight up to them skidding to a half, a face-splitting smile adorning his face at the new arrival.

Rogue groaned to himself, it looked like his prediction had come true; it appeared that Natsu was more into hanging around with them than challenging Minerva to a fight. An almost inaudible sigh escaped him at the missed opportunity of a lifetime, that was the sort of event people would have paid to see happen somewhere like the Grand Magic Games and the guild had just missed out on a free showing. He was soon forced out of his woes as Yukino brightened noticeably at the new addition as his fire-breathing counterpart took over her attention.

"Natsu-sama! How're you doing today? Look, I think I'm just about fully recovered!" With that she twirled on the spot proving that she had regained most of her mobility now after her numerous injuries, even her happy energy seemed to give the impression she was just about to make a full recovery. Chuckling to himself at the happiness coming from his friend Natsu immediately started to strike up a proper conversation.

"You're looking great Yukino, and so happy! You should recover from injuries more often!" Casually ignoring the grown that came from Rogue at the so-called 'compliment', the Celestial Mage giggled along with the Fire Dragon Slayer, she moved slightly closer to him, a newfound pep in her step.

"Thank you Natsu-sama, but you never answered my question. How're you doing today?" Smacking his head with a lot more force than was necessary, Natsu realised he had got a little caught up in the moment, however, when he actually went to answer, Rogue, cut across him another devilish smirk on his face.

"Well I think he's gotten a little restless Yukino, he's been fidgeting about all morning." Sending a glare over at the now broadly smiling Dragon Slayer, Natsu turned his attention back to the naming member of their team, only to see that she was looking at the ground, her face creased in what he read as guilt as she refused to hold his eye.

"I'm sorry Natsu-sama if it wasn't for me taking time off, you'd be out on quests at the moment. I'm sorry for holding you back." The Fire Dragon Slayer's glare was a bit more deadly this time, so much so that a bead of sweat had started to form on Rogue's forehead and was starting to trickle its way down his cheek. Deciding that he better sort out the situation quickly, he jumped back into the conversation, trying to avoid the stutter that seemed to have manifested itself without his knowledge.

"Now, now Yukino don't apologise, it will be good for him to learn some patience, he was just about to challenge Minerva after all."

The Celestial Mage's attention immediately turned to Natsu, her mouth wide as Rogue's cunning distraction worked. Steadfastly ignoring the bewildered glance in his direction, he let his fellow Dragon Slayer attempt to talk his way out of his situation.

"Well...I, erm..." His obvious attempts are articulation failed to impress his friend whose shocked expression seemed to have morphed into one of unhappiness and worry.

"Why Natsu-sama? That would be dangerous for both of you, although I have no problems with fighting I don't want to see either of you get hurt." Natsu had one thought running through his mind after her small plea.

' _Don't look in her eyes, don't look in her eyes, don't look in her eyes!'_

He looked her straight in the eyes.

He melted straight away as he was pulled in, the swirling worry and concern all for him, shown eagerly, projecting the depth of her care. Sighing to himself at how easily she had talked him down, Natsu broke away from her gaze to try and get a better grasp of himself so he could phrase his words free of distractions.

"I just wanted to spar Yukino, nothing too serious. Don't worry about it, now that you're here I'd rather hang out with you." A beaming smile reappeared back on her face at those words as a slight bit of red tinted her cheeks as well. The Fire Dragon Slayer breathed a sigh of relief as the situation seemed to have been rectified, however; he was put back on his guard when a teasing voice reached the group from behind him.

"Oh? Was Natsu going to challenge me to a fight? Such a shame he never got the chance to actually ask isn't it?" The group turned to Minerva, ignoring the groan that came from their new Dragon Slayer as Yukino looked at their leader, eyes slightly narrowed as she made her disapproval clear.

"Minerva-sama..." This prompted a laugh from the Guild master immediately followed by a humph from their Celestial Spirit Mage. Minerva quickly got her chuckles back under control as she walked up to Yukino, swinging her arm across her shoulders in comfort as she spoke to the group as a whole.

"Don't worry that can wait till later." She sent a wink at Yukino who only responded with a pout. "After all, judging by the news I received from another certain Guild master I don't think fighting is going to be on your mind for very long."

They all looked at her confused for a moment, not a single one getting what their leader was implying. Even though there was a glint in her eyes, Minerva kept the rest of her face an unreadable passive mask, the only give away a slight smirk right in the corner of her lips. As Natsu was about to pry for even more information, the front doors to the guild slammed open and a crowd of very familiar people walked brazenly in.

"NATSU!" Before the Fire Dragon Slayer could react, two streaks of blue attacked him, burying what appeared to be their faces in both of his shoulders. Getting over the slight shock he had just received, his eyes travelled downwards to be meet with two beaming smiles of his best friend and the girl he saw as family. Happy and Wendy were both snuggling into him both content on just hugging their friend even if he had failed to properly respond as of yet.

That quickly changed after his system caught up with his sight. Letting out a truly joyous laugh, Natsu immediately swept both of them into his arms hugging back for all he was worth, much to the happiness of both of his victims. The entire guild looked on smiling as their new friend practically rolled around with two of the most precious people in his life.

"Honestly child it's only been a week, it's not like you haven't seen him in years!" A short distance away Carla stood, her hands planted firmly on her hips, attempting to scowl but even she struggled to keep the smile from tugging at the side of her lips at the scene being played out in front of her. However, her words did seem to reach her young friend who immediately looked around her, blushing as she realised everyone was looking directly at her.

"S...Sorry Carla, It just feels like it's been longer than that." Her Exceed finally gave her a full smile only shaking her head in pretend exasperation. Stroking the now ecstatic Happy, Natsu finally was able to check on who actually just arrived in Sabretooth.

It seemed that half of Fairy Tail had shown up just to see him. Of course there was Erza and Gray, already making their way over to him now that Wendy and Happy had quickly had their hello. Every single Strauss was there too; all chatting amongst themselves waiting for their chance to go over and greet the person that was all but a Strauss in name. Gajeel, Levy and Juvia where stood a short distance away, the Iron Dragon Slayer's eyes seemed to be moving from the youngest Slayer, making sure she was okay and Rogue, leaving both Levy and Juvia to look on in amusement although it appeared Juvia was a bit torn between her current group and going over with Gray.

There were even some surprise visitors. It seemed that Bisca and Alzack had brought Asuka along who was eagerly badgering them about something he could not quite make out, although they seemed to be taking it in good humour if their smiles were anything to go by. Cana had shown up as well, hip flask in hand she seemed to be eyeing some of the people around the Sabretooth guild, probably wondering if she could drink one of their mages under the table. Romeo was stood there too waving energetically at him as Laxus looked on stoic as ever, although on closer inspection it appeared that there was a slight smirk on the corners of his lips.

Natsu by his very nature was an emotion-driven guy. Although most people would argue that his range was what was lacking in that department, even he could feel overwhelming love and support, and that the fact that just about all of his friends showed up that just made this day even sweeter.

"What's up Flame-brain, how many times have you destroyed the guild and pissed everyone off?" It seemed that even though they had been separated for a week, Gray's greeting was still something to try and get under his skin. Not that he would want it any different.

"Probably less than the number of times you've been arrested for flashing stripper." Although Gray glowered, there was a glint in his eyes of enjoyment. Before the two could go down their usual avenue, however, Natsu was grabbed by his head and dragged down onto Erza's shoulder as she carefully hugged him, effectively cutting off the argument before the two could brawl.

"How are you doing Natsu? Behaving I hope!" She was about to pull back when the Fire Dragon Slayer quickly gave her a hug back enjoying the sense of comfort radiating off of his two friends. Giving him a soft smile she quickly squeezed him a bit tighter in response, however, the loving moment was quickly brought to an end as Gray butted in.

"Oh Please Erza we both know he's probably blown up a table or something, it is Natsu we're talking about, he can't resist!" Despite his rival's glare, the Ice Mage kept a cool smirk on his face, knowing that he probably succeeding in riling him up.

"I haven't blown up anything, even on my mission! I've only fought one person in this guild and it was a totally fair spar." This drew the interest of both of his former teammates as the Fire Dragon Slayer seemed to sense that he may have made a mistake mentioning it as he began looking for a way out of the conversation. Nothing was forthcoming though.

"Oh! Never would have thought you'd go for an actually ruled fight. Who was it with, Ogra? Rufus? Ah, I bet it was Minerva!" Natsu could only shake his head meekly as Gray listed off the most likely suspects, Erza gave the Ice Mage a confused look before starting her own line of questioning.

"Of course it wasn't any of those people Gray, he's never fought any of them before. It's going to be either Rogue or Dobengal, they're the ones who'd probably want a rematch is that right Natsu? It was one of those two?" Another shake of the head.

"Well don't leave us in suspense, come on tell us!" It sounded like one of Erza's usual demands to Natsu and who was he to say no?

"Yu...Yukino."

There was a noticeable pause as this information washed over his teammates. Looking up he came face-to-face with a looked of shocked disapproval on Erza's face as she stared him down, begging him to be wrong. Finding it increasingly difficult to look in her direction for too long, Natsu then turned his attention to Gray only to see and infuriating look of hilarity greeting him. He really hated that look. Just as the silence reached a level of awkward that he never knew existed, the Ice Mage burst into laughter, folding over his arms as he clutched his stomach.

"Oh Gods Flame-brain, that's priceless. Only you could go to a new guild and fight one of the most loved, peaceful members there and think it's a good idea." He continued his fit, unaware of the burning glare currently being directed at him from his rival; however, he was robbed of his chance to respond as Erza cut in, intent on having her say, eyes narrowed at her childhood friend, her slits promising punishment for such a heinous action.

"Now Gray, control yourself. I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for this. Right. Natsu?" Alarm bells were ringing in his mind now. He needed a quick escape, something that would not leave him in a pile on the floor, however, there appeared to be no way he was leaving without his beat down. Luckily for him though, some form of deity must have been looking out for him as Minerva's voice called out to them from behind him.

"Now, now Erza don't be so hard on our Dragon Slayer here. He wasn't even the one to request the fight were you Natsu dear?" Smiling at the wink she sent his way, Natsu quickly nodded, pleased that his guild master had his back. The thoughts of the potential fight he was going to ask her for were quickly squashed and passed to the side in his mind, best not to bring that up if she was helping him.

"But, why would Yukino want a fight with Natsu, she doesn't seem the type?" Erza's face had changed from her previous state of simmering judgement to perplexed concern, it was obvious she was struggling with the concept of such a sweet girl asking her friend to a fight. And if she was refusing to sugar-coat the facts, he was definitely not the most gentle of opponents.

"Well I could say, but where would be the fun in that? I think we should ask the lady herself." Before anyone had the chance to protest, Minerva called out to Yukino who turned from her conversation with Rogue and Gajeel to wonder over as her guild master beckoned for her.

"Yes, Minerva-sama?"

"We were just talking about your spar with Natsu, Yukino. Would you please explain why you did it so Erza doesn't kill our lovely bundle of destruction for hurting our innocent Celestial flower." The Celestial Mage immediately blushed deeply in embarrassment at being put on the spot like this, however, it appeared that most people had caught onto the conversation and were now listening in, it was much too juicy a topic to ignore. She was trapped having to explain.

"Well Natsu-sama has always been kind to me, saying that I should have more confidence in myself and so I thought the best way to show him that I was taking his words to heart and learning was to do something I had never really thought about doing before and I challenged him to a fight without magic." Gasps of shock came from the Fairy Tail contingent at the news that simply beggared belief. It was Erza who broke their bewildered state by battling through her own disbelief to try and find out more.

"Not that I don't admire your bravery and courage Yukino, but why would you challenge one of the best hand-to-hand fighters around to a fight without magic. I would've thought you may have been able to wear him down with spirits." All heads turned to the Celestial Mage again as she actively battled against the urge to shrink away from being the centre of attention. Squaring her shoulders, she faced everyone as she gave her explanation to her actions.

"Because it disadvantaged me Erza-sama. I wanted to fight him on terms that seemed to favour him and prove that I could keep up with him. I could have fought with my spirits but if I'm honest I think he would have gotten through them and to me quickly anyway. So I went with the option that would prove I could be brave and powerful and fought him head on."

"And a marvellous job you did too Yukino! She more than kept up with Natsu; she even managed to draw a bit of blood from him." Everyone once again gasped at Minerva's proud proclamation, their Natsu actually took heavy hits? This, of course, brought laughter from Gray as the image of such a gentle soul beating up his rival was too perfect.

The rest of Fairy Tail, however, was looking at Yukino with a new found respect. Wendy and Romeo were even looking at her with a degree of awe that the Celestial Spirit Mage was able to hurt the man they viewed as their idol. Deciding she wanted to see just how good she was, the Sky Dragon Slayer quickly approached her quarry, intent on getting her answers.

"Excuse me Yukino-san, just how powerful were your kicks that you managed to hurt Natsu-nii so much?" Another question that brought almost two-guilds worth of attention square back at her feet, even Gray had stopped rolling around the floor with laughter to hear this information. However, luckily the Celestial Mage was saved as Minerva cut in with an answer for her.

"She packs quite the punch my little Dragon Slayer; it was quite the sight to see. In fact, why don't I allow us a little demonstration." Looking over at Gray she gave the Ice Mage a sweet smile hoping that he would play along.

"Would you like to do the honours?" Gray smirked as he swaggered towards both Sabre mages, ignoring the death-glare from his rival as he stood, guard relaxed, goading Yukino on to hit him.

"Of course I will, especially if it finally proves Flame-brain is weaker than me and that I've been telling the truth all along." Only smiling back at the confidence on display the Territory Mage turned back to Yukino and gave the signal to begin.

"Go ahead Yukino, there's nothing to worry about, no consequences if something brakes." Ignoring the mumbling coming from her fiery friend, the Celestial Mage gave one last unsure look to Minerva before focusing and Gray, smirk still present on his face.

"Come on, I haven't go all d-" Breath and blood left him as he flew backwards crashing over tables from the sheer strength of the roundhouse kick Yukino had just delivered to him.

Every eye turned in shock as the Celestial Mage blushed and tried to not sink into herself, she was immediately grabbed by a cackling Natsu who gave her the biggest hug she had received for a long time. She allowed herself to be swept along in the rush, laughing at her friend's excitement as she happily hugged him back, however; her good-natured side soon overrode her joy as she looked over to Minerva who was busy checking in on Gray.

The Ice Mage had managed to find his feet, unsteadily swaying from one side to the next as he looked over at the current Guild master of Sabretooth in surprise and a hint of pain.

"That really hurt! It's like taking a Lucy Kick but worse. How is it worse?" The smirk only grew on Minerva's face as she noted the discomfort and the few drops of blood that Gray quickly wiped off himself before anyone else could notice.

"Our Celestial Mage is quite tenacious isn't she? She trained a long time to try and perfect her close combat skills. And just so you know, it took quite a few hits before Natsu bleed." She received quite a vicious glare in response to that as she winked at the Fire Dragon Slayer and got a fanged grin in response.

"Why are you even defending him anyway?" She glanced back over her shoulder at the now steady Gray. He seemed to be more confused than annoyed now as if the notion of helping his rival was too much for his poor mind to fathom. Giving him a once over, Minerva called back to him before moving away, patting her Dragon Slayer's shoulder as she walked by.

"Natsu is a mage of this guild, all be it only temporarily. That means that he has my support in most situations. We in Sabretooth look after our own." She moved over to Rogue leaving a thoughtful Gray to ponder on her words. He stayed that way for a minute before the doors once again opened and a loud, excitable voice rang clear through the guild.

"Ah! It feels so good to be back home!" The mages of Sabretooth suddenly all turned as one as Sting and Lector strutted into the room, his steps drowned out by the excited murmuring that followed him as he grinned at all of his friends in turn.

Rogue immediately hurried over to him, Yukino and Frosch not too far behind all intent on seeing their friends. Minerva took a more composed stroll over, trying to keep her face in an unreadable smirk, however, her true joy shone in her eyes and she found that she could not hide it. She was struggling to find a reason to care.

The attention seemed to suit Sting, his grin turned into a genuine smile as Rogue's hand found his shoulder, Yukino smiling widely as she stood excitedly in front of him, Minerva catching up and leaning her arm on the Celestial Spirit Mage's shoulder, a pleased expression plastered on her face.

"Hey, guys how're you doing?" Sting quickly checked on Lector to see him excitedly jumping up and down in front of an equally content Frosch, embracing the warm feeling at their reunion, the White Dragon Slayer looked back to his friends, expecting an answer full of details, nothing skipped out.

"Why don't you tell him about your spar and our job Yukino? He'd love to hear about that." Her eyes immediately began to sparkle as she began to regale all the things she had done since he had taken his holiday away. Sting listened on in awe as she finished up, enthralled by her story as he imagined every detail, every move.

"Woah, just woah..." He looked over at Natsu who was now chatting to Alzack, Bisca, and Romeo, Asuka happily perched on his shoulders as she laid her head down on his hair. Allowing his gaze to linger for just a second, his face suddenly morphed into a pout as he refocused back on Yukino who seemed slightly taken aback by his sudden change in attitude.

"I can't believe you had a spar with Natsu-san and managed to go on a job with him, you're even on a team with him! I'm so jealous." The Celestial Mage patted his back affectionately, smiling at the silliness of her friend. Of course, that was where his brain would go.

He seemed to appreciate the gesture as his face soon settled back to its previous happiness. However, she was once again left in shock when Sting turned around to her, a serious facial expression not often seen before present as he stared directly at her.

She felt a bit exposed as if her former guild master was sizing her up. He nodded to himself, ignoring Yukino's growing discomfort as he opened his mouth to speak.

"You seem to have already started to grow even in this short space of time, I have to say I'm glad Natsu decided to join us for the time being. I'm proud of you Yukino."

He noted that she seemed to stand slightly taller at that, head held higher as a proud smile ran across her face. She then pulled off a move that shocked both of them, despite the ever-growing blush on her face. She gave a cheeky salute before her entire face exploded into red, Sting bursting out into laughter as she cringed into herself. He gave her a genuine beam as he looked at her fondly.

"Looks like Natsu-san is rubbing off on you. I've got to say, I'm really proud of you Yukino, it looks like you're really going to keep on improving." The two of them shared one more smile before, the White Dragon Slayer turned to his acting Guild Master a smirk now gracing his face as he addressed her.

"So then Minerva how's my guild doing now?"

No one noticed when the guild doors opened again and a young woman crept inside, her pristine blonde hair reflecting the sun as she quickly closed the doors, immediately finding the corner closest to her so she could watch the proceedings without bother. She gazed fondly at her guild interacting with Sabretooth, how she wished she could simply join in.

It looked like her other half was busy catching up with his friends, providing quite the show with his exuberant details of what he had been doing since his holiday began. Her gaze locked on him for a while. She was so lucky to have him, no matter how irrational she had acted or how much life seemed to have thrown at her he seemed to take personal pride in being a rock for her to depend on.

Smiling at the image of her man, her eyes roamed on, scanning over her own guild members as they all interacted together. Laxus was there, standing alone, content to watch the whole display looking slightly out of place without his Thunder Tribe to support him. Gray and Erza seemed to be debating something, the Ice Mage pointing to his chest gesturing wildly while the Knight just shook her head.

Her gaze journeyed ever onwards scanning over members of both guilds before she reached her destination. Him. He stood there idly chatting away without a care in the world. Did he even realise she was there? Perhaps not, that still failed to lessen the sting of not being greeted in that exuberant way of his.

She spared a glare his way, she knew deep down that it was unreasonable, but any action was better than no action at all.

"Why are you by yourself, Lucy? Shouldn't you be talking with all of our friends?" She had to admit she was shocked at the familiar voice, breaking into her isolation. Trying not to show the surprise she felt, the Celestial Mage turned to face the smiling visage of Mirajane Strauss. Luckily there seemed to be no malice or suspicion on her face which meant she probably got away with glaring over at their beloved Natsu. Either that or she was very good at hiding her thoughts.

"Oh hey Mira, I just thought I'd stand aside for the time being you know? Kind of enjoy the vibes everyone is giving off." She kept full control of her body, refusing to give away any indication of deceit. It seemed that luck was very firmly on her side though as Mira was not being her usual prodding self, she had no idea why but she was not going to squander a gift laid before her so openly.

"Well, it doesn't seem you'll have much longer to do that it seems that Minerva and Erza have something they want to say." Turning back with raised eyebrows Lucy found that it was true, both women standing proud giving off an aura of authority as they looked over their melded guilds.

"Sabretooth, as is it obvious and if you missed it I'm honestly questioning why you're in our guild, Fairy Tail is here for today. Together we have decided that today isn't a day for work, it's a day for a party." This announcement was greeted with rousing cheers as people began to talk animated among themselves, a party was always welcome. Minerva's lips curled as she heard the approving voice begin to swell.

"As a result, we need to get the guild ready and someone needs to go run some errands. Gods know we'll probably need more drinks with Cana here." An outraged cry came from said young woman as both guilds chuckled at her expense. Taking advantage of the lapse of attention, Erza quickly took over where Minerva left off.

"Fairy Tail!" The entire guild seemed to stand to attention, even Natsu inadvertently straightened up when he heard his childhood friend raise her voice to address their family.

"Minerva has been kind enough to let us go and explore the town so as to not get in the way of their setting up. You are of course free to stay here if you wish, however; I would hope you would make yourselves useful if you do." No one doubted for a second that if they stayed they would be forced into aiding the party effort; the decision was rather straightforward when worded as eloquently as their enforcer phrased it.

"Anyone from Sabretooth is, of course, perfectly welcome to join us as we take a look around your town, however, some of you will still need to stay to help prepare for tonight." Murmurs arose as the hosts contemplated their options, most wondering if it was worth the effort in conversing with acquaintances or staying together and getting the work done. Despite their bodies telling them to slack in a corner somewhere and keep their heads down, most came to the conclusion that it was would simply be easier to just do the work as a unit and get in finished quickly so the party would start sooner.

This was of course, not true for everyone. Yukino, Sting and Rogue and even Minerva were perfectly happy to go over to join the Fairy Tail mages, (the acting guild master of Sabretooth begging off for once and trusting that the people she left in charge could do just fine without her). Everyone slowly gathered, leaving previous conversations with each other and the other guild, to come together to see what the rest of the day had in store. As usual, it was Erza who took the lead.

"Okay now that we're all here let's figure out what we're going to do until we can come back. There is a town that needs to be explored after all." What came as a shock to everyone present though was when Wendy of all people spoke up almost immediately an answer already on her lips despite her face slowly reddening as all eyes focused on her.

"Erm... we could divide into two groups Erza-san. Sting-san and Rogue-san could show around the Dragon Slayers and Yukino-san and Minerva-san could show around the rest of you." Heads began to nod along with the plan as Fairy Tail's Knight weighed the idea in her mind. It seemed that this was preferred, however, as Sting was already jumping up and down on the spot in excitement, his eyes shining as they looked at Natsu, it was fairly obvious what ecstatic thoughts were already going through his mind.

Smiling along at the actions of Sting, Erza was about to give her blessing when the stray thought of Dragon Slayers let loose flew through her mind. Could she honestly let Natsu out of her sight if Gajeel was nearby? Luckily Laxus chose that exact moment to move into her vision and she felt some assurance that there was at least someone that could maintain control if their rambunctiousness got the better of them.

"A fine idea Wendy, is everyone happy with this?" A sea of nodding heads and even a few smiling faces. Even Lucy seemed a strange mixture of relieved and happy as she eyed Yukino with a grin. She was not alone judging by the mischievous look coming from Mira. She understood the excitement though; she too had some catching up to do as she turned to address the smirking Minerva.

Natsu's arrival must have been some herald of good fortune as the city in which Sabretooth resided had nothing but pleasant and warm sunshine. Today was no different as the mixed Mages of the two strongest guilds in Fiore started their exploration, intent on doing some sight-seeing and shopping.

* * *

"Ahh, it feels so good to be able to go shopping again!" It seemed that the brightness of nature had lightened Lucy's mood, indulging in one of her favourite past times seemed to only rocket it skyward. Her group was currently browsing one of the many shops on offer in what appeared to be the city's very own clothing district.

She looked up from the range of dresses she was currently pouring over to eye her companions happily. Mira, Lisanna, and Yukino were all eagerly sifting through their own sections trying to find something to suit their own tastes, all three glancing up when her voice finally filtered through their concentration. It was Mira who answered her, a smile of her own, gentle as always, greeting her friend as she spoke.

"It's good to see you smiling again Lucy, you seemed pretty down earlier I was starting to get worried." Keeping the smile on her face, the Celestial Mage buried her nervousness deep inside. Mira was a predator when it came to prying information from her friends and she was pretty sure her mental fortitude would pale in comparison to the Demon on a mission.

Waving off the concern with a smile, Lucy gazed at all her friends fondly, looking over from her little group to where Erza was dragging Gray, and therefore Juvia, around with her, trying to find the perfect outfit. Judging by both of their faces, they were looking for any avenue of escape from the oblivious Knight.

"You worry too much Mira I'm perfectly fine. I just needed some time to recover from the journey that's all. I'm perfectly fine now." This seemed to placate the Barmaid as she hummed happily as her smile stretched slightly wider at the news. However, a chill began to race down the spines of all three girls as Mira's face morphed from its usual loving smile to a rather sinister smirk, her eyes glistening with mischief as the remnants of her previous personality started to worm its way back into her.

"Speaking of being happy." With deceptively innocently eyes, Mira focused her gaze solely onto Yukino, her terrifying smile back in full force as she marked her prey. The poor Celestial Spirit Mage had never been subject to an interrogation by the leading gossiper of Fairy Tail and the prospect of having to undergo such treatment looked to be frightening her, if her widened eyes and slight whimpering was a strong enough hint for the two other spectators.

"Mira stop, you're scaring her!" Yukino took some degree of comfort from the fact that Lisanna was trying to actively stop her sister before she went too far however, it seemed that they both knew that it was never actually going to work, and judging by the sad grimace the youngest Strauss was sending her, she was already apologising for her failure.

"Now now Lisanna, it's only a few questions, I'm sure Yukino here wouldn't mind too much if I asked them right?" The sympathy and sadness seemed to be rolling of the Takeover mage now; her sister had already gone into her own world. She was going to have to face down the Demon; however, if she was going to be subjected to this she would do it with pride and dignity. Holding herself up straighter, she knew what she was going to do. She would face this head on!

"Of course you can Mira-sama, what's on your mind?" She almost faltered when the Demon's smile widened, instead of the comfort she was used to feeling from what was such an influential figure to her, Yukino felt only thirst. A thirst that only she could quench and she knew, to the very pits of her soul, that she really did not want to be the one who gave her the information she was seeking. But if the last two weeks or so were any indication, she was strong, she could do this.

"What's going on between you and Natsu?"

And just like that, she felt herself crumble slightly on the inside. She inwardly chastised herself for not thinking that Mira would want to know every detail about Natsu since he left and judging by the almost deranged look in her eyes she had already managed to glean some rumours from the guild about how close the two were.

She idly wondered how she had managed to do that when they were barely in the guild for less than an hour but decided that she would let it go for her own sake.

"What do you mean Mira-sama?" She knew exactly what she meant but if she was going to have to be subjugated to this, then she was going to make her work. Lisanna seemed to be torn between supporting Yukino and getting the gossip for herself, the conflict showing on her face as she glanced from her sister to her new friend, mouth ever so slightly open as if she wanted to ask a question but was having trouble deciding on who it was for. Lucy was the strangest out of the lot of them. She was staring right at her, face totally devoid of any emotion as she tracked her fellow Celestial Mage with chilling eyes.

"Well from what Minerva has told me, you challenged Natsu to a fight, actually managed to damage him, and then joined a team with him. Not only that but you managed to help him defeat the leader of a dark guild, it's pretty obvious something is going on. All of those things by themselves are pretty impressive, but together..."

Yukino was secretly happy that she got to look away from Lucy as Mira continued her questioning. It seemed that with every word that the Bartender had said dropped the temperature of her stare dropped ever so slightly.

"I...I just wanted to feel as if I had given something back to him, give him something that he could be proud of me for. After everything he's done for me, it's the least I could do to show him his faith wasn't misplaced."

That got a laugh from the Demon as she softened her gaze slightly, giving her friend a look of sincere affection, moving over to her to put her hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently making the Celestial Mage focus her entire attention back on Mira.

"You should never feel that you have a point to prove Yukino, you really are special. Natsu isn't the type of person you need to prove anything to, he even forgives most of his enemies after he's forced them to fight him." This got a giggle out of every girl present, however, Lucy almost seemed to glower at the words spoken, withdrawing to the edge of the group before staying silent, successfully avoiding any detection as she languished on the fringes.

"But he is pretty cute don't you think?" She really was a master manipulator. Her face had already morphed back into an innocent expression yet she still managed to have a degree of mischievous malice underneath. Knowing that she needed to leave pondering just how her sister-figure could achieve such a skill until later, Yukino swerved the rest of her thoughts in a different direction. Primarily, how to get out of talking about Natsu's looks.

"I...I've never really noticed Mira-sama." Just one look at her questioners face told her this answer was not going to even get close to sating the Demon's monstrous appetite for gossip and matchmaking. She needed more.

' _Just relax Yukino, she's your friend. Remember what everyone said, you're smart and talented, you can get out of this.'_ Her self-doubt immediately overrode her thoughts. The look on Mira's face showed that even with her trying to think more positively about herself, any self-esteem she had built was still too fragile to resist a Demon.

She even looked over to Lisanna to see if she could potentially get some support from her, however, that seemed to be going straight towards a dead end as she was looking far too into the conversation, her expression a rather adorable mixture of excitement and curiosity.

"Come on Yukino, surely you noticed that smile he has and should I go into his body..." Ignoring the usual finger-to-mouth thinking pose that Mira seemed to love, the Celestial Mage was desperately trying to fight off the blush that was threatening to take over her face. Of course, she had noticed, he never really tried to hide it, but this was a subject she really was trying to avoid thinking about. It was really far outside of her comfort zone.

It showed not too long after as her face put on a valiant effort, but eventually lost the fight to avoid it. It only daintily dusted her cheeks but with Mira around, any slight reaction was fair game for teasing. But the Barmaid never got the chance to hound her friend. Lucy had backed away from the group and quickly left the store, closing the door loudly and barging past a rather offended looking man as he walked into the store.

Sensing something wrong with her friend (and using the opportunity presented by the abrupt departure.) Yukino gave chase, briefly throwing an apologetic look to the man that Lucy had disturbed, being careful not to make eye-contact. He seemed to have already forgotten about the incident, however, and she was waved off with a smile.

Lisanna and Mira watched her go, both with looks of confusion gracing their usually bright faces.

"Mira, what just happened?"

She did not respond to her sister initially. Her eyes were glued to the door where her two friends had just hurried out of. They had drawn some attention from inside the store and a few of the Mages present had looked over to the commotion, yet no one seemed overly bothered, but then again they were elsewhere when their conversation happened. What was said that caused Lucy to run off like that?

It only took a minute for a scowl to appear on Mira's face as realisation dawned on her. The confusion on Lisanna's face turned to concern as her sister's usually bright visage had been replaced with the kind of look that she used to use when she was the Demon of Fairy Tail.

"Mira... what's wrong?"

Although the scowl lessened at the sound of her sister's voice, a frown still marred her face as she looked over to Lisanna.

"Oh nothing, just Lucy wanting both paths rather than walking the one she chose for herself." She refused to respond to her sister's prodding look and silently went back to her glaring at the exit her friends had taken.

"Oh, well done Lucy you just had to go and make a scene didn't you?" Fairy Tail's Celestial Spirit Mage was currently down a side alley connected to the shop, berating herself for the stunt she had just performed.

"Urgh why did they have to talk about him of all people? They couldn't have just asked Yukino how her training is going or something." She growled slightly to herself looking at the wall in front of her with a malice that seemed to be hunting her of late.

"Lucy-sama?"

She groaned as the one voice she really wanted to avoid at the moment seemed to hunt her down. Plastering a wide smile on her face, Lucy turned to see the worried frown of her fellow Celestial Mage's face. Swallowing down the guilt of wanting to avoid someone who obviously cared deeply about her, Lucy rallied her determination inwardly, squaring her shoulders as she answered her waiting friend.

"Oh hey Yukino, what's wrong?" The only thing this seemed to do was deepen her frown, she should have guessed that her exuberance would only raise her suspicions, she was far too used to dealing with people of Natsu's intellect that she almost forgot how to potentially fool someone who was equally as intelligent as herself.

"Erm... I hope I'm not offending you by saying Lucy-sama, but that should be my question, you kind of stormed out just a minute ago." Fairy Tail's Celestial Mage looked down hoping that maybe one of the Gods hated her enough to open the ground underneath her and let her drop straight down. But it appeared that she was never going to experience that kind of divine intervention.

"Oh that, don't worry about it. Just needed some air you know? Just had to get out for a while." The dubious look she received made it quite clear that Yukino had seen through her lie immediately, however, she knew her friend well. The other Celestial Mage soon dropped the subject after sensing that her friend's discomfort at the topic, more concerned with her feelings just as she predicted. She gave herself a mental pat on the back as her friend reluctantly spoke up.

"Okay Lucy-sama if you say so, do you want to go back inside? I'm sure Mira-sama and Lisanna-sama are worried about you."

Forcing herself to keep up the facade a little while longer, Lucy strode back into the store with all the confidence she could muster. It seemed to work as no one battered an eye apart from the man she had bumped into before, sending a sheepish apology his way hoping that the man would prefer to not make a scene. Luckily, he waved her off as he went back to his shopping, giving her an intense sense of relief.

Quickly making her way over to her friends, she noticed to very different reactions waited for her. Lisanna was waving at her, smiling away as if nothing happened, she secretly appreciated that reaction, there was no way she had any wish to go into why she stormed out of the clothes shop, however, the other Strauss sister appeared to not be as pleased.

Mira was frowning, not just, in general, she was frowning straight at her! Could she have known what was going through her mind? The Demon was someone who seemed to have the uncanny ability to know what her friends were thinking, even if they were in complete denial about it. Maybe she was just frustrated that her teasing got cut short. She really hoped that was the reason, the last thing she needed was a vengeful Mira chasing haunting her for the foreseeable future.

* * *

"Natsu-nii! Stop provoking Gajeel-san!"

Things were a lot different with the Dragon Slayers, it was just as they stepped outside in the bright sunshine of midday that Natsu and Gajeel started arguing, a crowd of nervous people gathering, not entirely sure whether they should do something about the two raging friends or not. Luckily for them, the youngest Dragon Slayer seemed to have a handle on the situation. Wendy stood next to the group, foot tapping impatiently as she waited for her fellow Slayers to listen, a proud looking Carla following on in her example.

Reluctantly, the two older Dragon Slayers backed away, only gently growling at each other as they regained their personal space. This seemed to appease Wendy as her frown soon gave way into a grin and she turned away and started to walk down the street Carla and Laxus in tow, the later keeping a careful eye on the youngest even if he tried his hardest not to appear too bothered about the girl in front of him.

"This is all your fault you know Salamander?" Natsu had to quirk an eyebrow at Gajeel's question. He was fairly sure he had been well-behaved recently, what exactly was he meant to be getting blamed for this time? He was sure something unfair was happening here.

"What do you mean metal-freak?" With a great amount of personal effort, Gajeel managed to only scowl at his fellow Dragon-Slayer and not punch him straight in the face. The crowd had only just started to disperse and he really hated the thought of dealing with an upset Wendy, the effort just seemed far too strenuous.

"Oh, I don't know, the fact that our little squirt can now look in our eyes when she speaks or the fact she can actually stand up to us now? Preferred her when she was a shrinking violet myself, least we could have a good brawl." The news caught Natsu off-guard as he stopped in the middle of the street and stared at Gajeel who just glanced back his way and carried on walking after their fellow Slayers, forcing him to follow after his departing friend.

"She's really grown that much?" The Iron Dragon Slayer just nodded at him, leaving Natsu to his thoughts as he walked away. A small smile slowly started to form on his face at the thought of someone so important to him coming into their own. He was so preoccupied inside his own mind that he failed to see the figure that was anxiously hovering nearby.

"Erm... Natsu-san?" Snapping back into reality he came face-to-face with a nervous Sting, waiting for him. Looking beyond him, he saw Rogue catching up with Gajeel and Pantherlily; Frosch, Lector and even Happy were with them, had he really been that absorbed in fighting and his thoughts that the entire group had basically waltzed past him and he had failed to notice? That seemed like it should be sending some alarm bells through his mind.

Shaking his head to clear himself of any more distracting thoughts, Natsu prepared himself for this conversation. He may not be the most socially adept person but even he could guess that he was about to have a serious conversation and there was another warning bell telling him that this was one to avoid.

"Oh hey, Sting, what's up?" He inwardly hoped that his tone matched his exuberant facade but he doubted it, he was one of the easiest to read people in Fairy Tail for a reason.

"I just wanted to talk if that's alright?" Natsu eyed his fellow Dragon Slayer for a moment, trying to decipher if this was in some way or form a trap. Much to his relief that did not look like the case.

"O...kay." The unsure gap did nothing to alleviate the rising awkwardness however, Sting appeared to not be perturbed by this, it was clear he intended to have this conversation, come what may.

"Natsu-san, it's about Lucy..." It was in a matter of moments that every avenue to possible escape flew through the Fire Dragon Slayers mind, curse the fact that his magic had no effect on him, being a pile of ash was currently preferable from whatever trauma this conversation had laid out for him. Staying silent, he let his fellow Slayer have a moment to collect his thoughts; it appeared that he still had something left to say.

"Do you hate me?"

Speechless. Natsu was absolutely speechless.

It was not often he was described in this way. Rambunctious yes, fiery most certainly, but this question had come from nowhere and left him totally stumped. What was his response meant to be to this? He knew the obvious answer but where did this come from? How well did this bode for the rest of their 'chat'?

"Sting... of course I don't, what could've given you that idea?" His face paled slightly as he looked away from Natsu, shuffling his feet as he got some distance away from his fellow Slayer. A small group of four people idly walked by chatting away happily, sending a greeting to the White Dragon Slayer. He tried to reply in kind and seemed to get a favourable response, even though his usual boisterousness was missing. Luckily, this distraction seemed to calm his frantic behaviour and after they had moved on he looked back over to Natsu.

"It's just... Before Tartaros, you and Lucy were really close and now... What I'm trying to say is, please don't hate me Natsu! I think you may have had feelings for Lucy and it must look like I stole her away from you but I never meant to! You're my friend Natsu, someone I want to surpass someday, but I don't want to hurt you, I never wanted to..."

He trailed off, heaving with the effort of finally spilling what he had been keeping inside for a while now. The guilt had seemed to have infected his mind for some time, he was bent over slightly after his miniature rant, his face creased with the effort, if someone happened to pass by it would look like Natsu had just punched Sting in the stomach and winded him.

Natsu for his part had taken all of this in his stride. He stayed silent for a moment though trying to process his feelings, the more complex of human emotions still tripped him on the occasion and he wanted his next words to be well chosen.

"Sting I won't lie and say that losing Lucy didn't hurt, it hurt. It hurt a lot. I've never had pain like that before and as you know we've been through a lot of fights. But, I've never once blamed or hated you for 'taking Lucy away from me' she was never mine, to begin with. You're both allowed to be happy, even if that's with each other."

He sent a sad smile towards his friend who returned it with one of his own.

"I... Thank you Natsu, I know it must have been hard for you, I'm just happy that we are still friends." The smiles took a more positive turn as they both grinned at each other, enjoying the moment for a moment.

"Well how about we catch up with the others, we'll miss something if we stay here." Sting nodded at Natsu's words and the two friends hurried along, eager to catch up with their fellow Slayers.

* * *

The sun had started to dip beyond the horizon as the evening slowly started to creep in. The city had begun to slow to a small stream of people going about their final business for the day, among them Natsu, Wendy, and Yukino walked side-by-side following a river's path as they all enjoyed each other's peaceful presence as they went on their way to a restaurant that the Celestial Mage had said was one of the best in town. And of course, Natsu being Natsu, had immediately given a farewell to his friends and ran off with his two friends.

"Natsu-sama, did you enjoy your day out with the rest of the Dragon Slayers?" This had been the first time Yukino had been able to really talk to Natsu since this whole fiasco had started and she was quite intrigued to know what mischief the Slayers had actually gotten up to.

"It was alright, that bastard Gajeel, kept trying to start a fight but I kept my cool."

"That's only because I was there Natsu." The Dragon Slayer levelled a glare over at Wendy, however, it failed to frighten her as she just gave a sweet, innocent grin straight back again. A groan slipped out of Natsu's lips as a giggle escaped from Yukino's even though she tried to smother it with her hand.

Grumbling to himself, the Fire Dragon Slayer let Wendy walk on ahead slightly, tilting his head to continue the conversation.

"How was yours Yukino? Did anything happen?" A frown briefly flickered across her face but she squashed it quickly, hoping that it went unseen. Judging by the way Natsu was still giving her a look of curiosity, her lapse had not been discovered.

"Nothing really important Natsu-sama, you should have seen Erza-sama though, she dragged Gray-sama around with her all day and I think Juvia-sama wasn't very happy about it." That got a boisterous laugh out of him; it was good that he was laughing. There was no need for him to know about Lucy. There was no need for him to stop smiling.

"The Stripper deserved it! I guess Erza can only pick on him now." She could not tell if the laugh that he gave was relief tinged with maniacal glee or maniacal glee tinged with relief but either way she was still slightly worried that Erza or Natsu were a bit crazed in the head. Of course the option that both of them were was there as well but she decided to not go down that particular rabbit hole.

A comfortable silence descended on the pair as they walked on, Wendy pulling away slightly further in front. Yukino glanced over at Natsu to see him debating what appeared to be a serious thought if his wrinkled expression was a solid indicator. Deciding to leave him to his musing let the silence go on for a little while more, letting him set the pace. It was less than a minute later when he finally made up his mind to speak.

"Sting said something to me."

This piqued her interest, if it was something that had been on his mind, she could probably guess what the subject was about, and if it ended up being like Lucy's episode earlier then this may have ended a bit frostily to put it lightly. She stayed quiet though, intent on letting him unravel the knot his tongue had found itself in.

"He... apologised, said he never wanted to hurt me, basically said he hoped we were still friends. What an idiot. I told him he didn't need to apologise for finding his happiness, it just sucked that it was at my expense."

Yukino smiled at him, of course, Natsu would be the one to alleviate Sting of his fears, and of course, Sting would fret about what Natsu thought of him. He was never particularly sly of his slight hero-worship of the older Dragon Slayer.

"That's good Natsu-sama; it means that all is well right?" Natsu simply nodded, his smirk not looking quite as pained as it did not too long ago.

"Yeah, we're good now. Hey, that reminds me I need to think of a name for Sting and Rogue!" Yukino stared blankly for a while before he was able to figure out what he meant by giving her two friends a 'name.'

"Natsu-sama, I don't think-"

"Oh! Sting has got to be Lightbulb! Hmm, maybe this needs a bit more thought..."

Yukino had to laugh despite herself; of course, it would be something derogatory and a bit dumb. She looked fondly over at Natsu who appeared to have moved his attention onto Wendy who was further up the road glancing over the shimmering water of the river as she gave the two some space for a while as they talked. She had just passed by the mouth of a back alley when Natsu's voice halted her steps.

"Hey, Wendy! I've thought of a name for Sting, what do you think of Lightbulb? Do you think it's good or do you think I need to think of a new one?"

The Sky Dragon Slayer gave Natsu a soft smile, opening her mouth to probably chastise him for coming up with such a silly name, however, she was prevented from answering as five figures came out of the alleyway all seemingly staring directly at the young Dragon Slayer in their path, it was difficult to tell precisely what their focus was, everyone wore rich looking cloaks effectively hiding their identity from even a Dragon's keen eye.

Their appearance installed a sense of paranoia inside of the three friends, especially when they all raised their arms as one. It became obvious who they were focused on now, all of them were pointing straight at Wendy. Natsu didn't need another warning he was about to yell at his fellow Slayer to move when a concussive blast ripped through the air.

A swirling orb of clashing colours maliciously flew straight at the youngest Dragon Slayer. Hairs stood on end as time seemed to slow; the power behind the attack seemed to electrify the very air. Every mage present felt it. None more so than Wendy who only had time to widen her eyes before the orb landed exactly in the spot she was standing sending a shockwave that shattered the glass, and the walls, of nearby shops and homes.

Natsu and Yukino were thrown backwards but maintained their balance, both skidding instead of falling to the ground. It took a few more seconds before they were able to survey the effects of the sudden attack, however, when both mages were finally able to look up, they were greeted with a scene of absolute horror.

Wendy lay barely conscious, blood seeping from multiple wounds as she lay inside of a crater that had formed, a substantial amount of rubble from the nearby buildings were scattered all over the street, and by some divine levels of luck, none of them had come close to falling on her. In the current state she was in, there was no telling how serious the potential injuries could have been, not that she seemed to matter as of the current moment, she was lying deathly still and even with Natsu's enhanced hearing, he struggled to pick up her faint breathing from the distance he was currently stood.

A slight movement stole his attention away from his precious friend, their assailants, still moving as one, raised their hands to their hoods, flicking them back deftly and revealing their features. The two mages gasped in shock. Natsu faintly recalled the four on the right; they were the group that had hailed Sting when they separated themselves from the rest of the Slayers to have their private talk. Yukino was having much the same reaction. That man, that was the man Lucy had barged out of his way when she fled the clothing shop they were in earlier. She looked over to her friend intent on gauging his reaction, Natsu simply stared ahead, his face an impassive mask, unreadable even to her, though she had a strong inclination as to what he was thinking.

A rage began to build; it coursed through his veins until it instilled itself into every fibre of his being. They had hurt Wendy, the girl who looked up to him with such respect and love, the girl who was his family, the girl who overcame any shyness for the sole purpose of helping him out of his angst. His eyes never left her body but he could feel the barely suppressed anger coming from even Yukino, there was only one thing they could do, one way this was going to end.

"Yukino!" She needed no further prompting the two mages surged forward, her fingers already trying to find their way to her keys. The enemy may have been unknown, but they found it hard to focus on any actual battle plans, they needed to pay. They both were equally matched in both outrage and pace, they closed the distance rapidly, coming closer ever closer to their sweet retribution.

"Now, now my dears let's not get hasty. Darling if you would please."

Normally, Natsu would have registered a voice cutting across a fight, normally, he would have been fully aware of his surroundings, however, all he could think about was planting his now flaming fist into the faces of the group holding their ground in front of him. He never fully registered the voice. He never fully registered Yukino banking towards him without breaking stride. The only thing he registered was the shock as her full-force kick hit him square in the side of the head, flooding him with momentary pain and throwing him off balance.

As soon as his body hit the floor, the Celestial Mage had hopped away from him just in time for another blast of wild magic, to hit him head-on, curtsey of the five figures stood a short distance away. Another shockwave, rippled through the city as his body exploded his pain, overriding his senses as his whole world began to swim. There was no stopping the blur in his vision or the deafening ringing in his ears. He screamed in agony.

The pain stayed even as his world fought to come back into focus, he felt so drained, so injured, he knew in the back of his mind that he was famed for taking an unnatural amount of damage, but taking a blast from five powerful mages at once, with the added bonus of not knowing what magic just mixed together seemed to be a limit he wasn't able to handle.

His resilience began to kick back in as his hearing cleared alongside his vision and sense of self. He was disgusted to find that he was weak as a new-born babe, unable to move anything except his head. All he could do was eye the group that assaulted him as they approached his prone body, hoisting him up and beginning to secure him by tying chains around his body, trapping his arms to his sides. He looked around for help, his eye-catching Yukino who was staring straight at him with a completely stoic expression.

Why? Why had she done this? Wasn't she supposed to be his friend? His confidant? Did their friendship mean nothing?

His pondering was cut short as the figure of a young, tall woman, a few years his senior, appeared next to Yukino. Her hair appeared to be a dark shade of midnight purple, her eyes reflecting the same shade as they found their mark on him. She walked sensuously over to him a smirk gracing her glossed lips, her pale skin reflecting the light like a beacon drawing his attention away from her face and down the rest of her rather shapely body.

She had it on full display, a tight fitting dress worthy of Minerva showed off the fruits of what could only have come intense training, with two slits in the sides to show off her legs and just enough of her cleavage visible, this woman was out to make a statement and by the look in her eyes as she looked at him, he was the intended recipient.

"Now that you're a little more docile darling, let me introduce myself, I am Kirai Fuzen, guild leader of Amaya's Demon. I'm sure the pleasure is mutual."

He tried to glare but even that was a hard ask in his current state, all it seemed to do was please her even more.

"Now you're probably wondering why I set up this little 'foray', tell me have you ever heard of Shadow's Crest and Everbloom?" Natsu's eyes began to widen at the mention of the place of Team Yukino's last mission. It seemed Kirai, eyes flashed as she saw the recognition dawn on him.

"I see you do, well, Shadow's Crest was a guild under our control. Everbloom is a tourist trap you see and the amount of money and resources they have is like a gold mine. Dear Miko was ever so excited to go back and be able to start her own guild there; after all, she deserved her revenge!" Her voice rose ever so slightly at the end with a tone of barely contained bitterness, a look of fury passed over this woman's face as she clenched her fists. Even if Natsu wasn't the most intelligent man around, he knew exactly where this was going.

"I gave her a deal you see if she sent me a decent chunk of what she took from that town she and her guildmates could keep the rest and she could have her vengeance. Everything was going smoothly, we got our resources and Shadow's Crest thrived, it was perfect!" She stepped into his personal space as he was held up by two of her lackeys who had dragged him to the riverside during her speech, fiddling with the link of one of the stands of chain, pulling it taut and letting it snap back into place sending a jolt of pain through his entire body as the new placement aggravated the wounds he had received.

"Then you came along and ruined everything. We lost our main source of income and even worse than that, sweet Miko and Riam were taken away from me. I trained them both myself you know, they were _very_ precious to me." The smallest prickle of fear started to creep its way down his spine, his body was a far way away from even being able to stand on its own, let alone fight. And it was looking like Kirai was nowhere close to being done with him, despite that, her gaze softened as she gently cupped his cheeks and stared directly into his soul. The poor Dragon Slayer knew as soon as she touched his face, this was going to be even more brutal.

"You know I would have loved to have met you under different circumstances Natsu, I think at one point, you would have been a wonderful addition to my guild, but alas we don't always get our way." She finished off by patting him on the cheek tenderly, glancing away and checking that the rest of her guild-members had dragged the biggest pieces of rubble they could find to her. When she found they had obeyed her orders to the letter, she gave them a nod and they proceeded to tie the other ends of the multiple links of chain currently around the Fire Dragon Slayer, to the pieces of heavy boulders they had moved. She then beckoned Yukino over. She moved without question.

"A shame you know? Messages need to be sent and ramifications must be doled out, I try not to mix business with my personal life but you just managed to find my weak spot didn't you? Oh well, farewell Natsu, if you survive this, we may even meet again! Although that is quite the unlikely scenario. Now my dear if you would be so kind."

Yukino gave one sharp nod, turning to look directly into the eyes of Natsu before delivering a brutal kick to the side of the poor Dragon Slayer's head. His world immediately started to fade to black as he fell backwards, the last things his eyes caught being the lackey's pushing the rubble in after him and Kirai approaching Yukino, hand outstretched towards her head.

As his consciousness faded Natsu hit the water, falling further down as the rubble dragged him to the depths, replacing his last glimpse of fading sunlight with darkness.

* * *

 **So it's been 8 months...Please don't kill me!**

 **In truth, I needed some time to get my focus back. I had grown quite tired of writing and it took a few months to recover from that. The only writing I did was some marketing for work (which was probably the reason I burnt out now that I think about it...) and some bare-bones planning for a novel I'm still intending on writing, turns out building your own world takes a massive amount of effort and time.**

 **Anyway onto this story! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I'm praying there aren't any continuity errors. Also, I'm still slightly paranoid that section from Sting and Natsu's talk downwards seems rushed. I have added to them to try and flesh them out a bit more but I'm still unsure. Let's keep being positive though.**

 **We managed to get over 250 followers in my absence which is incredible! Thank you all so much for that, we're also ridiculously close to breaking 200 favourites as well, not quite there yet but thank you none the less!**

 **Shoutout to SWDarkstone as well for keeping me entertained during the writing process! Thanks for the messages and idea bouncing!**

 **Now onto the reviews:**

 **LucyMabley - Thank you once again for your kind comments, it makes me really happy that you're enjoying it!**

 **Xperior - I haven't been that involved in that much relating to Fairy Tail in my time away but it doesn't surprise me overly much. When people love something it's difficult to accept that it may have been badly written or not as amazing as they thought it was.**

 **Guest - Thank you so much! I really want to read more Natsu/Yukino so I hope more gets made!**

 **ReaperStride - Thank you for the praise! I do have an idea how it will end so obviously I won't spoil anything. Hopefully, I can develop Natsu and Yukino's relationship well in future chapters and not mess it up too badly!**

 **DisasterMaster0 - As I said before I kind of regret not doing it in the style that you mentioned, oh well though, lessons for next time!**

 **Oh God, that go me so annoyed! Why reincarnate Mavis and Zerefif you just have them walk out and not interact with anyone and then let Natsu just stand by and watch as his 'brother' walks straight out of his life. And every single one of them survived! Don't write a war arc and have no one die!**

 **Those are both great points too! What happened to Kagura, Milliana, Sting, Yukino, Minerva, and Rogue? I loved these characters and I can't recall seeing them at all in the final chapters! What did happen to the Wizard Saints? Where they knocked out or did they survive? Urgh, don't suppose there are any answers.**

 **Thanks for the feedback as well, greatly appreciated as always!**

 **Guest - Thanks! I'm in much the same boat as you I'm afraid. Lucy went straight from being my 2nd favourite girl to dead last, it was a bad fall from grace. Also, I love crack ships! (probably obvious right now...) They just open up so many different opportunities!**

 **SWDarkstone - I'm just going to steal a lot of what you just said and use them as trump cards later! Although this chapter is probably reflecting Sting more positively, I never considered that point of view before, also I'm rather ashamed to say, I forgot about Virgo and Leo. Leo, in particular, may have some words to say about how Natsu's been treated. May have to revisit these ideas again, thanks, man!**

 **Mtcoin - It's right here for you my friend!**

* * *

 **As it's been so long I've decided to be a total dick and rip into Fairy Tail yet again with some analyses me and some friends made when we were discussing how the series lost our collective interest. I legitimately hope you all won't hate me for this but here we go.**

 _ **How Fairy Tail broke the laws of Magic Systems**_

 **For those of you who don't know, I'll start this off by saying two things. One, I have tried to make it clear I respect Hiro for giving us Fairy Tail, however, I feel like he either doesn't overly care too much about it or cannot see the faults he's created. And Number two, I love fantasy novels! Quite a weird connection I know, however, there is a fantasy author that is considered quite the authority on Magic Systems**

 _ **Brandon Sanderson**_

 **I won't go into his credentials here, I will say you should check him out I've personally enjoyed a lot of his books, but what I will say is that he came up with _three_ simple rules to help writers make magic systems.**

 **Rule 1:**

 **The better defined and understandable a magic system is, the more an author can use it in their plot. Simplified it can be interpreted as: "The better the reader understands a magic system, the more it can be used to resolve** **a conflict."**

 **Rule 2:**

 **Limitations are more important than Powers. This means that powers don't make a character interesting; what matters is what they can't do. Sanderson uses Superman as an example, pointing out that Superman has flight, super-strength, laser vision, and plenty of other abilities. But what makes Superman interesting are his moral code and his weakness to kryptonite.**

 **Rule 3:**

 **Tells writers to expand what you already have before you add something new. To do this, there are three directions a writer can take: Extrapolate, Interconnect, or Streamline.**

 **(These were copied from )**

 **Many of you may see something that is quite painful to swallow (it was for me when I made the connection.) Fairy Tail breaks all three of the rules.**

 **If you watch _On Writing: Magic Systems and Storytelling_ by _Hello Future Me_ on Youtube, you'll start to see how some of his points, in correlation with Sanderson's laws, make Fairy Tail's magic seem, honestly, sometimes seem quite badly written.**

 **Ignoring the First law of Sanderson's 3 Rules leaves the reader (or in this case watcher) thinking one thing.**

 **"Why doesn't the character just use X power?"**

 **This is most prevalent in Natsu. He has had an insane amount of power-ups over the seasons/chapters and so many of them have never been used again without any real explanation. Some of appeared in filler arcs in the anime and not the manga which confuses the point somewhat, however, in the Eclipse arc, Natsu gains two new power-ups that he never uses again with no explanation as to why. His Dark Regulus and his Planetary Flames, although it can be argued that this is not cannon in the manga it may be in the show, and it's turned people against Natsu.**

 **On the website _thetoptens_ Natsu is rated the 3rd most hated character, behind both Lucy and Carla. This is part of the problem Fairy Tail has, when your characters can do insanely powerful magic with no real reason or rhyme as to how and why people begin to switch off.**

* * *

 **The Second Rule is Fairy Tail's worst crime in my opinion. The show is consistently telling us that the main group of mages is insanely strong and they have extraordinary potential. However, we never hear about their limitations, Lucy is the only one who really acknowledges hers. Natsu and Erza are the worst offenders in this category.**

 **Natsu gets consistently fired up at the end of important fights and proves to have an almost limitless amount of power and the same goes for Erza. Together the two of them smash what believability there actually is in Fairy Tail as they have very easily cut through vastly more powerful opponents.**

 **Erza has destroyed a meteor after having every bone in her body broken save for her right hand. (She pushed herself into the sky and shattered it using only her right hand.)**

 **Natsu has been able to take out far too many opponents with his power of friendship, I personally like to use the Sting and Rogue fight in the GMG as the example. Two Dragon Slayers in Dragon Force and who were so in-sync they could cast a Unison Raid together got beat by an ordinary special from Natsu who didn't even go into any special mode to do it.**

 **The characters need limits set for them, without it the story becomes predictable and when something completely stupid happens, we as fans should not have to say -**

 **"Well it was simply because it was Erza/Natsu."**

* * *

 **While I do believe Fairy Tail's magic adheres to the Rule 3 somewhat it throws it away in equal measures. The GMG is an example of this done right as we get to see non-mages react to magic and that's why the feeling of it being a grand spectacle is always prevalent, however, How many times has Fairy Tail not expanded on its magic before adding new stuff? Take Star Dress, for example, is amazing and should have maybe come from Lucy's second origin release instead it's pushed back to the end of the series and we get a whole new load of magic added in the GMG arc and in the end we get what _Hello Future Me_ says we should avoid. The audience saying,**

 **"Wow isn't that a useful but mildly inconsequential plot element."**

 **This also affects Fairy Tail's world, although there are good examples of Hiro using Rule 3 well, (Transportation and the mobile phones later on.) We never see how the other countries use their magic. We never see how magic may affect religion (there are Gods in Fairy Tail so why is religion never really touched upon apart from fanatics and Zeref.) Does it affect philosophy in any way? Do the citizens ever get scared that there are mages that can literally wipe out cities off the map?**

 **It annoys me as there are basic elements of Rule 3 present (Gildarts shift in Magnolia is one.) meaning that there is just enough meat to keep the world interesting, but not a massive amount to keep it immersive.**

 **However, it also fails in another character is Rule 3 as once again, _Hello Future Me_ points out, how does character affect magic. One of his best quotes is this - "Tying your magic system to character growth gives more weight to the character arc by emphasising its importance in them becoming stronger and overcoming challenges."**

 **The only time I can recall this happening is Natsu learning to deal with Igneel's death and learning to harness the power of his father (Which he can use once and then promptly looses after not being able to defeat Zeref with it...) Are there any more examples?**

 **None of the FT characters drastically change from their personalities at the start of the show, so any growth doesn't necessarily feel well earned. Gajeel and Wendy being the only exceptions, and gaining their Dragon Force forms are why they are among the better characters. Gajeel has to come to terms with what he has done before and his love for Levy before he unlocks it, and Wendy has to overcome her timid nature to save Carla, none of the rest of the characters get this benefit.**

 **Does Gray have to come to terms with Silver's 2nd death before he can use his Ice Devil mode? Does Erza's have to have any character growth before unlocking her armour and weapon that can literally cut through magic? Does Natsu have to overcome emotional trauma to use a new mode like his lightning Dragon mode? not often! (Although, shoutout to the ONE time he did against Zancrow.) Does Lucy have to come to terms with her (off-screen) depression to use Star-Dress?**

 **Fairy Tail needs magic to reflect more on the characters, it's why so many people end up enjoying the more minor, side characters (Levy, Gajeel, etc) more than our main ones.**

* * *

 **I won't lie it's late in the morning and I feel like I could cover these points better with a non-sleep deprived brain but I'll say this in conclusion, When Fairy Tail adheres to these rules, it's truly at it's best! You get so invested and sucked in you can't help but love the show but unfortunately (in my opinion) it's not the majority of the time and the show suffers as a result. I should also point out this was more about the Anime than the manga, and as usual many of you will disagree with me, however, that's perfectly fine! In fact, there are probably counter-points to what I've made, please tell me if I missed them, I did try and include examples of FT doing Magic Systems well.**

 **Anyway, I'm off to work on the next chapter and game. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


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